


Mercy

by UnderTheMoonlitDay



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: 1920s, Alaska, Alternate Universe - Historical, Dog sledding, F/F, Gold Rush, Iditarod, Swan-Mills Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-11-12 11:47:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 29,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11161224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnderTheMoonlitDay/pseuds/UnderTheMoonlitDay
Summary: Emma Swan has been working at Blanchard Mining Company for two years, under the disguise of a man named Emerson Swan. Regina is a widow of the Great War, and lives in the shadow of her powerful mother, Cora. They are brought together by Regina's rambunctious son, Henry, who visits the mines when he should be in school. He is one of the only people who knows Emma's secret. But what will happen when the secret is revealed?This story is set in the mid-1920's in Nome, Alaska.





	1. April

**Author's Note:**

> Alrighty! So! You may remember my other story "Born in a Thunderstorm" that featured dogsledding. Unfortunately, that story didn't work. I am not really good at writing hate-to-love fits, so I thought I would stick with what I know.
> 
> This is a story that is mostly forgotten by the people of today. This SwanQueen story is based on a true event that happened in the winter of 1925 in Nome. In writing this, I don't just want to entertain you, but I hope to inspire you to look up what happened, and to learn the real story. Thanks in advance for reading!
> 
> Warning for creepy, sexist comments from Hook, brief implication of child abuse, and some description of wounds.

_April, 1924_

 

Emma’s shoulders ached as she shovelled another round of mud into the sluice. Her whole body felt like it was one big bruise after working at the gold field for five days straight, but it was worth it. Especially when she saw Henry waiting for her at the mouth of the sluice every day.  The young boy was the son of a soldier who used to work in the mines before he died in the Great War and one of the wealthiest women in the small Alaskan town of Nome, however he never seemed to care that he was practically royalty. The other miners whispered about him in the saloon; they called him the Prince of the Gypsies because he ran around the gold field shoeless and muddy with all the other miners’ children. He always waited for Emma in the morning and sat with her during her break, and sometimes he even helped with the sluicing. 

 

“What are you doing, Emma?” Ruby’s guttural whisper broke through Emma’s thoughts. She blinked, startled to realize that she was staring blankly at the creek bed while her shovel lay limp beside her. The blonde looked up at her friend, whose face was caked in dirt and glistening with sweat while she shovelled small spadefuls of dirt into the wooden machine beside her. Her hazel eyes had a warning glimmer as she nodded towards some of the other miners walked up the hill towards them from further down the processing line. 

 

Emma’s heart lurched as she recognized the square shoulders and finely dressed attire of the owner, Leo Blanchard. She mumbled a curse and broke into action, grabbing her discarded hat from where it lay in the wind-stunted grass before her long white-blonde locks were noticed. Swiftly, she swooped her hair up into the hat with a deft motion. Then she picked up her shovel and joined Ruby beside the wooden machine, shovelling hard until the group of four men reached the girls at the creek bed.

 

“Emerson,” the mine owner greeted her. She leaned on the shovel and nodded to the man who called her alias, casting a glance over his shoulder to see who else stood with him. David, one of the engineers who kept the coal machines down in the camp working, stood just behind Mr. Blanchard with Killian, the one-handed driller nicknamed Hook for the wickedly sharp logging hook he attached to his missing hand, and August, one of the best fire-runners and panning men in all of Alaska. She flicked her gaze back to Leo.

 

“Sir,” she rasped in a throaty, deep voice that could pass for a man’s tone. “What can I do for you?”

 

“It seems that the gold is running out here.” Leo stood with his hands behind his back as he surveyed the creek in front of them. They were on Lillian Creek, about an hour north of Nome where they had been searching for gold for well over a year. They had done great for a long while, and had seemed to hit an endless vein when all of a sudden the gold stopped coming in. Emma had known for a long while that the gold was gone, and her heart sank at the thought that she could be fired. “Are you aware of that?”

 

It had been Mary Margaret, David’s wife and Leo Blanchard’s daughter, who had rescued her and Ruby from the streets of Boston after having escaped the orphanage they’d both called home for most of their lives. They had been starving, close to death and half-frozen when the woman had found them. Neither had looked anywhere near the eighteen years of age that they were; instead, malnourishment had seemingly frozen their appearance to the age at which they had abandoned the orphanage—sixteen. Mary Margaret nursed the girls back to health and introduced them to David, who immediately took pity on them and offered them the chance to make good money in the mines of Alaska. Both had jumped at the offer, eager for a chance at a new life and money to their names—even if that meant they had to be disguised as men to do so. That had been two years ago. Emma now felt a bone-cold panic seep in at the thought that she might not have a job and be forced back to the miserable existence of Boston all over again.

 

“Yes, sir,” she mumbled, turning her eyes to the semi-frozen ground beneath her. 

 

“David tells me that you dredge and work the sluice five days a week, is that correct?”

 

“Yes, sir?” She eyed the man nervously now, fidgeting under his smooth amber stare. 

 

“You work an extra day a week and your hard work pays off. August tells me that when you dredge, he pans more gold than when any other man dredges. Do you know what that tells me, Emerson?”

 

“No, sir, I do not.”

 

“It tells me that you are a hard and determined worker—both you and Roger are.” The man turned to Ruby and offered a respectful dip of the head as he spoke her alias. “That is why I want you on the upcoming expedition.”

 

“Sir?” Her nervousness gave way to surprise as she looked at anyone else to see if they knew what Leo was talking about. 

 

“We must find more gold, Emerson, and you are the man to do it. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and you have the will, lad. I want you to accompany Killian, August and David to an unoccupied claim of mine near Council. Find the gold, boy, and you will be rewarded.”

 

“Y-yes, sir!” She exchanged an excited glance with Ruby and puffed up with pride.

 

“Excellent. You shall leave next week. You need only show up to work twice within this week. I want you to rest up before you leave. The trail will be rough and horses may not respond well to the changing weather. You need all the strength you can get. Winter could return at any given moment.”

 

“Don’t worry, sir,” Ruby said with a low male tenor. She flashed Emma a smile. “I’ll make sure he rests.”

 

“There’s a good lad. Now, I want you both to return home to your women, eat a hearty meal, and relax!” The man winked and shooed them away from the sluice, back in the direction of the wagon that would take them home. As he turned to keep walking the grounds, Leo nearly toppled over Henry, who was watching the exchange from the edge of the creek. He let out an annoyed sigh and glared at Henry as the boy skirted the older man and made his way gracefully towards Emma and Ruby. “It’s a shame Daniel isn’t still around,” he huffed, loud enough for the boy to hear. “Perhaps he would have taught his street rat of a son better manners.”

 

If Henry heard the insult, he showed no sign, instead smiling up at the women in disguise with a shimmer in his green eyes. “Hey, Em—” he drew out the m as he glanced behind him, trying to judge if the receding back of Leo Blanchard was still within earshot. Deciding he wasn’t, Henry said Emma’s true name which allowed the girl to relax a bit. He was one of the only ones who knew about the girls’ secret, and took great care not to reveal them. “Hey, Rubes. So you are going on an expedition?”

 

“I’m not, but Emma is,” Ruby said, relaxing into her regular female voice, though she kept the volume down low. She threw her shovel over her shoulders and made for the wagon, sitting just beyond the camp in a shallow gully. Emma threw one arm around Henry’s shoulders and held her shovel tight with the other as they walked. 

 

“Are you excited to go?” Henry pressed, grinning up at the blonde.

 

“You bet, kid! We’re going up river to look for gold. It may take a few days, but we will find it!”

 

“I believe in you, Emma.”

 

As they neared the wagon, Emma noticed a woman standing beside it, wringing her hands tight as she stood in the dirt. She wore a heavy dress of royal blue, with her dark hair pulled back into a severe bun. Emma couldn’t see her feet because of the dress, but she guessed the woman wore heeled shoes. When Henry came into sight, the woman relaxed, all her tension leaving her body as she sighed one word: “Henry.”

 

With a start, Emma recognized the woman as Henry’s mother, Regina Mills. She was the only woman in Nome to own an automobile—in fact Emma hardly saw her without it. She exchanged a glance with Ruby, wondering if her friend recognized her. Based on her friend’s wide eyes, she knew Ruby had guessed who she was. The chestnut haired boy ran to his mother and threw his arms around her in a hug. Regina tried to remain proper and keep her hands away from the boy but couldn’t resist his charm for very long and melted in a hug that she returned with a copious amount of love and affection. 

 

Seeming to notice Emma staring, the wealthy woman stiffened and raised her head. “Who is this?” She asked in a cool tone, clearly unimpressed with Emma and Ruby’s unkempt appearance.

 

“Mother, this is—”

 

“Emma,” the blonde interrupted Henry. She wasn’t sure why she blurted her true name, but it was too late for that. She straightened her back and continued. “My name is Emma.”

 

“ _You’re_ Emma?” Emma winced at the incredulous tone the brunette used. She jerked her head once in a nod and watched Regina’s eyes roam over her disdainfully, trying to keep the blush she felt starting in her chest from rising. “Henry didn’t tell me you look like a man,” Regina sniffed, curling her lip.

 

“Yes, ma’am.” She didn’t know why she was so courteous to this rude woman, or why she wanted to keep talking, but she did. “It pays my bills, ma’am.”

 

“Well, you have the manners of a gentleman, though you lack the grace of one. Why not let your husband do the work while you raise him a family?”

 

“It’s not that easy, ma’am.”

 

“Why not?” Regina’s eyes narrowed and then widened. “You aren’t infertile are you?”

 

“No, ma’am.” Beside her, Ruby shifted uncomfortably, clearly not wanting this conversation to continue. “I come from nothing and remain a spinster.”

 

“Unmarried? My god, that’s a fate worse than death! No wonder you disguise yourself as a man.” With that Regina turned towards the wagon.

 

“You mustn’t tell a soul,” Emma rushed as the brunette turned from her. When those cold brown eyes turned back to her in a surprised manner, Emma flinched. “Please, ma’am. Should Mr. Blanchard find out I am a woman, I will be out of a job and back to nothing. I cannot afford that, especially with the gold running out and spring hardly here.”

 

Everyone stood still as Regina pondered. Finally she turned, throwing over her shoulder, “Why is it my place to tell anyone anything?”

 

With that, the conversation was over, and everyone boarded the horse-drawn wagon back to Nome.

 

* * *

 

 

“I hope Emma is alright,” Henry worried, as he stared out the front window towards the sea. Regina put down her fork as she saw how concerned her son was. She felt a twinge of discomfort for the travelling woman as the wind moaned through the house, the small bay her house was sheltered behind hardly doing anything to stop it as it ripped in off the ocean. The expedition team had left early this morning, when the grumbling sky had yet to unleash it’s potent load. 

 

“I’m sure she’s fine, Henry,” Regina replied. The nine year old shot her a withering look.

 

“That’s what you said about Father, too.” 

 

Regina flinched at the reproachful tone in her son’s voice. She thought he would have been too young to remember Daniel, who had gone off to war two years after his birth, but clearly she had been mistaken. 

 

“That’s different, Henry, that was war,” she sighed. “This is just some expedition for gold. Your friend will be fine. I’m sure she’s holed up in some inn or trading post by now.”

 

As he stared mutely at his plate, Regina’s thoughts drifted. She didn’t have any reason to worry about the blonde woman disguised as a man. With Daniel, it was different. She didn’t love him exactly, but she was bound to him by duty and marriage, and he was the father of her son, the jewel of her life. Had he stuck around for longer, she knew she would have loved him. He was a kind and gentle soul, a friend to everyone including Leo Blanchard, who had made him the second in command of his vast mining empire. Regina found herself wondering why she didn’t just tell Mr. Blanchard about the women in his mine—it wasn’t her problem if the girl lost her job. Then, she inwardly cringed at the thought. She knew Leopold had had his eyes on Regina since the day Daniel boarded the steamboat that took him to the army training camp in Seattle. The mine owner was a vain and greedy man, and Regina knew that he only wanted two things out from her—the money from her wealthy lady mother in England, and her body. Her disgust of the man and his obvious lust for her had forced her into the heavy dresses of mourning for a long six years. Many called her a devoted widow to her husband, who was shot a year into his service, and died a year later in a hospital in New York City. 

 

She blinked back into the present as Henry sighed. He met her glance with a deep emerald eyed stare that was all his father’s, and nodded. 

 

“I believe you,” he murmured, getting up from the dinner table. He placed his dished in the sink and turned to her once more. “I am going to wash up for bed. Will you come up to read to me soon?”

 

“Of course. I will be up when I finish cleaning down here.”

 

The boy scrambled up the steps of the lonely house on the bay, and Regina was alone once more. Once she was done tidying up the dinner mess, she headed upstairs to her room. Passing Henry’s doorway, she saw her beloved son frowning under the gentle light of his oil lamp at a school book on his desk. A glimmer of pride ran through Regina. He may run wild at the mines with his bunch of ragtag miscreant friends, but it seemed that her boy was becoming serious about his schooling. And while she would always support him in what he was doing, an educated boy had more chances of getting into one of the southern universities or colleges and having a successful career and family.

 

Smiling to herself, Regina walked into her room and shut the door. She sighed in relief as she slipped out of the tight and heavy dress of mourning, followed by the English corset that crushed her ribs and made breathing deeply impossible. Standing naked at the foot of her bed, she let the cold Alaskan wind that ripped right through her room from an incorrectly placed window nip at her sore breasts and bare skin.  She reached up to her head and pulled her long, ebony tresses free of the harsh bun, which had her scalp raw and painful to the touch. Once gooseflesh covered the entirety of her body, she walked over to the wardrobe in the corner and retrieved her long sleeved, soft nightdress from where it awaited her on a hanger.

 

Now relaxed in her sleepwear, Regina looked and felt ten years younger. She always enjoyed her time with Henry when she was like this. It was like showing her son her real self, not the haughty, selfish widow everyone else saw. 

 

Trotting into Henry’s room barefoot, she now saw her son in bed, curled up under the blankets in his own sleepwear. But his lamp still flickered with life, which meant he was waiting for her. As though sensing her standing at the doorway, Henry’s head peaked up from his blankets and he let her see a soft, open smile on his face.

 

“Hello, Mom,” he said to her. She felt her heart stir in joy. Henry only ever called her mom when her steel faced facade was down.

 

“Hello, Henry,” she greeted him with an equally open smile before sitting on the exotic quilt—another gift from Cora, to show she still commanded respect and obedience from across an ocean. She shook off the dark thought, telling herself that during this happy time with Henry, nothing would make her feel anything other than joyous. Regina looked expectantly at the dark haired boy. “What story would you like to hear tonight?”

 

Henry smiled a knowing smile. “I want to hear your story.”

 

Regina chuckled. “You always want to hear that one.”

 

“And you always tell it.” His jaw jutted in an adorable pout. Unable to resist his charm, she sighed complicatedly and began.

 

“Once upon a time, the Moon had a daughter with the Sun. The Moon was as cold as ice, and cared very little for her daughter. She wanted the daughter to be just like her. The Sun, on the other hand, was as warm as a fire blazing in the night to guide you home. His daughter was his pride and joy; his most beloved and beautiful creation. He wanted his daughter to spread her wings and find herself.

 

“But as you know, the Sun isn’t always around. He was always travelling the world, spreading his love and joy across the Earth. When the Sun was gone, the daughter was lonely. She wept often, for the Moon was cruel and unloving towards her. The Moon always did horrible things to her to shape her to be as ‘perfect’ as her mother when the Sun was away.

 

“While the Moon never really loved the Sun, she knew his anger was as scalding as his love. That heat burned her icy flanks, and his transparent emotions angered and confused her. She thought that everyone should be as cold and reserved as herself, and while she was unable to change her husband’s ways, the daughter would have to do. She would not tolerate two members of her family embarrassing her. So while the Sun and his heat were away and could not protect the daughter, the Moon struck like a viper.

 

“She was harsh and cruel and unforgiving, punishing the daughter for any happiness she may have possessed. The treatment became so hard to bear that the daughter finally snapped and became like her mother; a cold and heartless young woman.

 

“When the Sun returned from a long trip away and saw what the Moon had been doing to his daughter, he knew he had to save her before she lost her last shred of warmth. One day, while the Moon was out and away, the Sun approached his daughter and held her close. Instead of searing her with his heat like he did her mother, the Sun’s warmth and love ,melted some of the ice around the daughter’s heart. She began weeping as she realized what she had become.

 

“ ‘Are you happy here, my daughter?’ The Sun asked her.

 

“ ‘No, Father,’ the daughter cried out in response. ‘I hate who I am when Mother is around. I don’t want to be like her.’

 

“ ‘My love, do you want a fresh start?’

 

“ ‘Yes, daddy. I wish to be free.’

 

“And even though those words punched a hole in the Sun’s heart, he knew he had to help her. He said, ‘Even though you will be far from home, even though we may never see each other again, you will be happy. You will find your true love and you will spend the rest of your days with them. You will never ask for more and you will never be unhappy. That I promise you.’

 

“With that, the Sun stepped back from his daughter, opened the door which led to the Earth below, and watched as his most beautiful creation leaped from her home in the heavens. As she fell through the sky, the Sun could’ve sworn that she glowed with the light of a falling star.”

 

At this point, Regina glanced down at Henry. His eyes were flickering beneath his closed eyelids, and his brow was furrowed. His breaths were deep and even, but as Regina placed a gentle kiss on his frown to relax it, he stirred and murmured sleepily, “Keep going.”

 

“You’re almost asleep, silly boy,” she smiled down at him. His hazel eyes opened and peered imploringly up at her.

 

“Please?”

 

“Alright, fine. While I fell from the sky, I landed lightly on my feet as though I drifted down on the breeze. I landed right in front of your father, and after a couple of months, you were born. My father’s promise is still true. I have found my true love and there is nothing more I could ask for.”

 

She felt a small twinge in her stomach as she said the words she’d been saying for years. She still felt… Incomplete. Like something was missing.

 

“That’s not true,” Henry whispered, opening his eyes which were suddenly void of sleepiness and filled with deep seriousness.

 

“Of course it’s true, Henry! I have you! You’re all I ever could have asked for!” She remembered the fear she had originally felt when she first felt Henry stirring within her. She hadn’t known David very long at this point, and had laid with him out of wifely duty. She hadn’t wanted to bear his children. Not this soon. And her secret escape from her mother in England was much too fresh in her mind… What if she’d turn out just like Cora? But when Henry came along, he was absolutely perfect. As soon as the only doctor in Nome placed her baby in her arms, all gunky and crying from birth, she knew she was in love. He was hers and hers alone. Maybe this was the true love her Spanish father, Henry’s namesake, promised her as she fled England, the city of her birth, on a Spanish ship bound for Seattle, where a steamer would take her from the dreary city of Seattle to the cold city in Nome, Alaska. It was in Nome where her father had set her all up to live with a man who would take care of her until she was on her feet. She had never expected a marriage proposal, or her mother’s telegraphed acceptance of said proposal, upon arriving on the snowy beach.

 

“But, Mom, you had time to prepare to me. Besides, I’m your kid. You have to love me. But now, you need the unexpected kind of love. And not the kind you got before; the _good_ kind. The kind that just sweeps you off your feet and makes you feel so… Good.”

 

Regina felt her throat close up a tiny bit as emotion rolled over her with Henry’s eloquent words. “Since when did you become a poet?” She asked him with a watery laugh.

 

Completely serious, he said, “Since always. But don’t worry, Mom. You’ll find the right person. And I am going to help you look.”

 

She smiled softly and ran her hand through Henry’s soft, chestnut hair before kissing his forehead. “Yes, well, true love isn’t going to sneak in and bite me while we sleep. Perhaps we can start looking tomorrow. Does that sound good?”

 

“Yes, it does!” An excited glimmer appeared in Henry’s eyes.

 

“Alright. But for now, you need some sleep. Goodnight, my love. I will see you in the morning.”

 

“ ’Night, Mom.”

 

With that, Regina blew on the flickering flame in the oil lamp, extinguishing it and plummeting the room into darkness.

 

* * *

 

 

Emma’s body ached from cold and the wet. Her ribs were throbbing beneath her binding, and a cold rivulet of water was dripping down her back. Her clothes were soaked through and sticking to her body everywhere, and her hair was going to take forever to dry from where it was tucked under her large cap she wore.

 

Her frightened horse dragged her from her miserable thoughts. He had stopped and snorted as a rumble of angry thunder was heard overhead, and was now trying to back away from Emma, who stood in front of him with his reins in her hands.

 

“Easy there, boy,” she murmured to him, stroking the short fur on his neck to try and calm him.

 

“Swan!” Hook bellowed over the driving rain, his English-Irish accent very pronounced. His blue eyes were bright with annoyance and his dark hair was plastered to his face as he spun around his mount so he could glared full on at Emma. “We’d be going a hell of a lot faster if you didn’t stop to mess around with your damn horse every five steps! He’s a horse, not a scared little Jane!”

 

Emma rolled her eyes before deepening her voice and yelling, “Yeah, well it’s no thanks to you that I have the damn scaredy cat!”

 

It was Killian who had gifted them all with their current mounts. He told them all his father supplied only the best horses, and for the others this was true. Hook was currently seated on a large, beautiful roan stallion, while August sat on a glossy coated palomino mare, and David’s mount was a dark bay mare. Emma, on the other hand was designated to a young, flighty gelding with a dull black coat and was not accustomed to riders, only gear. She had walked beside him the whole trip so far, which wasn’t so bad when they were on the well-worn dirt road to and from the Nome Goldfields. They had since turned off that road, following the Nome-Council trail not normally used without snow to head towards Council. They had already passed through the town of Cape Nome the previous day, and had been trudging through the rocky ravine for most of the afternoon, determined to make it to Solomon before dawn.

 

David approached the bristling pair and shot them both a stern glare. As the eldest member of the expedition, Leo Blanchard had appointed David as the leader. “That’s enough from the two of you. You’ve been bickering the whole day. Emerson is trying his best to keep up, but perhaps, Killian, you could have chosen him a better horse?”

 

Killian only sneered at Emma, wiping the logging hook on his missing left hand clean of rain drops. Emma had always known Hook didn’t like her, but she never knew why. August, who had barely said four words since they left, shot a sharp glare at Killian as the arrogant young man opened his mouth to say more. Huffing in impatience, Hook yelled, “Hurry up!” As he turned and followed behind August, shoulder hunched and stiff against the cold. David gave Emma a sympathetic glance and waited patiently with his mare anxiously pawing at the ground for the blonde to soothe her horse.

 

Embarrassment heating her face, Emma put all her strength into trying to pull the young horse forward. She winced as the binding on her chest dug in to the already raw skin around her ribs. “C’mon, bud!” 

 

Suddenly, without her having time to gain her balance, the horse leapt forward, causing Emma to turn awkwardly and land hard on her side. Something clicked in her ribcage as she turned, and all the air huffed out of her body as she landed on the hard ground. Like a wave, pain washed into her chest as all the air washed out. She must have let out a cry, because in an instant, David rode up to her and leapt down.

 

“Emma, are you hurt?” He asked in a low voice, so that the others wouldn’t hear him over the wind howling through the rocky pass.

 

“I’m fine,” she gasped, her chest spasming with each word. She waved him off, unable to get enough air to continue speaking. David’s green-blue eyes shone in concern. 

 

“I will take your mount for now, just until you catch your breath. We’ll wait at the turn up ahead, so just meet us there.”

 

The blonde nodded gratefully and passed off the reins to David, who jumped up into his saddle and led the nervous gelding onwards while Emma took small wheezing breaths. After a few minutes, she tried to stand, even as everything smarted against her and her eyes rimmed with tears. She steeled her resolve. She wouldn’t let Killian or August see her cry. 

 

With every motion, the breath was lost to Emma but she soldiered on, knowing she would make it. She took tiny steps forward, pain blossoming with each and every one. It felt like years before she saw David reaching out a hand to help her the last three steps to the group.

 

They all sat around a small fire under an overhang, with various pieces of equipment set up around them to act as chairs. Killian sat on a box of panning trays, sharpening a stick to a deadly point with his hook, while nearby August was digging through a crate of food. David helped Emma sit down on a pile of furs that August was going to sell while they were in Council, before the older man sat down beside one of the saddles.

 

“Congratulations,” Hook sneered as he stabbed his stick into the damp, sizzling fire. “We are only thirty years older now.”

 

Emma rolled her eyes as he took a small flask out of his pocket and took a swig of it. “Dry up,” she mumbled, unable to project her voice higher.

 

They ended up staying the night under the overhang, Emma’s ribs causing her to move too slow to be able to trek through the night. The rocks offered very little shelter, and in the morning, their fur sleep-rolls were heavy and thick with rain. Emma’s whole side had stiffened up and had gone numb, and cold seeped in from the icy rain. She helped as best as she could to pack up camp, then hobbled on stone feet towards the black gelding to get ready to plod beside him. To her great surprise, David intercepted, holding out the reins of his mare.

 

“Why don’t you ride this one today, Emerson?”

 

Emma let out a small surprised noise as she took in the brown mare before her. Finally, she would be able to ride and rest her feet for a bit! David helped her up, the lift causing a fresh wave of pain to wash over her side, though she tried to hide it. Once steady on her horse, she heard a scoff from beside her. She turned and saw Hook glaring at her from where he lounged lazily in his saddle.

 

“Do you have something to say?” She snapped.

 

“I don’t know why you get special treatment,” Killian sneered. He jerked his head to David. “You’ve done nothing this entire trip and _he_ awards you like a bleating female. It’s horrible, really.”

 

Emma’s blood froze in her sore body as Killian mindlessly continued. _Does he know?_ Before she could continue, August sighed exasperatedly and spoke up.

 

“For God’s sake would you please shut the _hell_ up?” The Great War soldier invoked his powerful sergeant’s voice, which normally stopped everyone in their tracks, but for Hook it seemed to do the opposite. In a loud, whining tone, he pressed on.

 

“I’m just saying, I don’t know why you let that scrap of a boy join the expedition. There’s nothing special about him and anything he _can_ do, I can do ten times better!”

 

“Well, you see the thing is, Hook, that this isn’t a one man operation, and you weren’t picked to be the hero or the leader. Emerson was picked—by Mr. Blanchard may I add—because he works hard and efficiently, as opposed to you. You were picked because Mr. Blanchard needed a break from you, you egotistical, arrogant bastard! Now shut your damn pie hole and let it go because my ass is soaking wet, and I am sick and tired of your constant complaining! One more word from you and I’ll ring you right around the ears and knock you out cold!”

 

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at August in surprise. No one had expected him to pipe up or tell Killian off like he had. Retired Sergeant August P. Booth mounted his horse and looked around at everyone, confusion clear on his face.

 

“Well? Are we going to Solomon or not?”

 

* * *

 

 

It wasn’t long before they reached Solomon, a booming mining town of flappers and miners. Everyone in the group relaxed visibly at the realization that they would have somewhere warm and dry to spend the night. Even Killian had become more amicable; he had been cracking off jokes since they entered the town—some were actually funny and had Emma gasping out pained laughs.

 

She had been trying to stretch out her side the whole way into town, loosening it up so that she could do more to help when they got down off the horses—she would _not_ be a burden on this expedition. They passed through the three-street hub of Solomon, which rested on the gold-heavy waters of the Solomon River, and made their way to the Solomon Roadhouse, a timber-framed two storey building slightly further away from the main town.

 

After they had checked in with the housekeeper who stood behind the counter in the front room, which acted as a grocery store, they settled in the main hall of the roadhouse with various drinks; rum for Hook, whiskey for August and water for David and Emma. The blonde didn’t want to risk getting drunk and revealing her secret.

 

“So, Emerson,” Hook drawled, after two glasses of rum had mellowed him down enough for him to want to try to talk to her. “Where is it that you said you were from?”

 

“I didn’t say, but I am from Boston,” she replied, taking a small sip of water. It wasn’t any easier to speak, she still felt like all the air was being sucked out of her, but she tried to hide that from the others.

 

“Boston? What’s a Boston lad doing up here in the great white North?”

 

“Same as anyone in these parts.” she shrugged her right shoulder—which didn’t hurt as bad as moving her left arm—nonchalantly and silently hoped that they wouldn’t ask any difficult questions. “I came for the gold.”

 

August, thoughtful and perceivable as always, narrowed his eyes in curiosity. “And how is it that a young guy such as yourself heard about the gold?”

 

At this, Emma’s mouth dried up. She shrugged her shoulder with a wince of pain as her side protested the move, and glanced over at David, feeling the faintest flickering of panic stirring. After a heartbeat of silence that last too long, and the curious light in August’s eyes turning suspicious, David spoke up.

 

“He’s my nephew,” the older man replied breezily. Now Killian and August were back to looking surprised, an easier emotion to deal with than suspicion. 

 

“I didn’t know James had any children.”

 

“Well, you guys know James. He can’t remember half the women he sleeps with. He doesn’t know about Emerson.”

 

With that a chuckle of camaraderie went around the table and Emma let out a soft sigh of relief. Being a “son” of James was a good alibi; the twin brother of David was a cheater and a player, and he lived in New York City which was far enough away to not put Emma’s identity in any danger.

 

Hook sighed and looked wistfully after the sashaying buttocks of one of the waitresses. “I wish I could’ve brought my dogs,” he mused. Hook’s winter job, when the mine was mostly closed, was a mail-runner. With his team of twelve “lop-earred” southern dogs, Hook owned one of the fastest dogsled teams in Nome. Not that Emma was jealous. _Not at all._ “We’d have been to Council and back home by now.”

 

“Don’t worry,” August said, patting him on the back. “The women of Nome will wait a few days for you to come back. Then you can continue your quest to lie with every single woman in the city.”

 

Hook laughed and raised his glass. He then shot Emma a look so predatory that she felt her stomach roll. “Women make the best prey.”

 

* * *

 

 

Later that night, after Hook had staggered off with some woman to God knows where and August had retired himself to his room he was “sharing” with Hook, David and Emma made their way to the room they were to be sharing. The older man was almost carrying Emma up the stairs as the pain in her side had only grown during the night. She could hardly breathe due to the pain, which was made worse by what felt like the cloth strips she used as binding clenching tighter to her skin as they dried.

 

In the room, she was coughing, each time feeling like fire was coursing through her left lung. She began scrabbling fiercely at her clothing, not even caring if David saw or not. The wet leather and wool stuck to her frame and made the mission almost impossible.

 

“Do you need my help, Emma?” David asked, keeping his voice though due to the thin walls of the building.

 

Emma only wheezed and shook her head no. She stumbled into the attached washroom, closed and locked the door, and began ripping her clothes off as fast as she could with her side handicapping her at every possible turn. First was the leather riding jacket, then the flannel button up top. It squelched as she removed it and tossed it in a wet bundle on the floor. Once that was off, she drew the white undershirt over her head, trying not to cry out as the movement aggravated the tidal wave of fiery pain and rubbed against already raw skin beneath. She was slightly alarmed at the dirty, bloody stains on it, but her eyes rose to the mirror and she cringed when she saw her body. The edges of the cloth strips she was using dug into her ribs, and angry red marks branded her skin. Her entire left side was marred by a large, ugly blue-black bruise from where she fell. The bandages that were keeping her breasts flat to her chest were disgustingly dirty, brown with dirt and sweat, and that red stain around the edges… _Is that blood?_

 

Very gingerly, Emma began to remove the strips. She bit her lip so hard she could taste the coppery taste of blood in her mouth as she peeled the tightening strips out of the grooves they’d bitten into her skin. She almost cried when she saw the mess of blisters, cuts and sores that decorated her back, sides and chest. The worst were where the bruise was, clearly where she had dug the bandages in too tight in her anxiousness not to be discovered. The Solomon Roadhouse could not keep the cold tundra winds from ripping through the building, and the fresh air stung the wounds and Emma screwed her eyes shut in an attempt to block the fresh and different wall of pain from hitting her.

 

After a few minutes of standing in the washroom, topless with her chest airing out and protesting the long confinement, Emma became aware of incessant knocking on the locked door.

 

“Emma, are you alright?” David asked through the thin wood.

 

“I’m fine,” Emma forced herself to say between clenched teeth. “I’m just a bit raw.” Her white lie left a funny taste in her mouth, but she shook off the feeling that something was going wrong with her body. She was determined to be treated equally and wouldn’t risk the expedition just because of a little bruise.

 

Said large, ugly bruise smarted against her as she rewrapped her chest after a few more minutes, making her way out in just her bindings, her soggy clothes in tow to hang over the indoor clothes line David had set up while she was in the bathroom. She met his concerned blue eyes and plastered a fake smile on her face. “I’m perfectly fine.”

 

* * *

 

 

The next week passed in a blur for Emma—and not a busy blur, but rather a sick blur.  She knew something was wrong but was too stubborn to call for quits. Each day it was getting harder and harder for her to keep up with the others; each day it was harder and harder for her to wake up in the morning; each day it was harder and harder for her to keep food down (she never let any of the boys see her throw up her dinner, however. There was never any need to make them worry); and each day it became harder and harder for her to focus on the task at hand.

 

They had reached Council the day after—two days after?—they had stayed in Solomon, and they had spent the rest of that time searching for gold in the un-mined claim of Leo Blanchard’s. For some reason, Emma seemed to recall a very vivid dream where they found gold in a river, only for her legs to buckle as she passed out. She knew that would never happen, though, she was being so very careful to make sure that the men never realized she wasn’t feeling good. But then she was even more confused when she woke up on a makeshift sled that was sliding over the muddy ground, hauled by a golden colored horse, while three other horses followed around her; a brown one with a black one right behind on her right, and a red one on her left. Then she realized there were people on the horses. She stared at them until the man on the brown one, a sandy brown haired man with bright blue eyes leaned over his mount to peer at her. _What’s his name? Is that… David?_

 

“It’s okay, Emma,” he murmured, though his voice came from far off. Emma felt a hand tuck something around her and she looked on the other side to see a chestnut haired man with green eyes tucking a warm fur blanket tighter around her. 

 

“We’re almost home,” August whispered, compassion in his eyes. “Go back to sleep.”

 

 _He’s not using his Commander’s voice_ , Emma thought sluggishly, jutting out her bottom lip in a pout. _Why should I listen to him?_

 

But in the next instant, she tried to sit up and proceeded to fall back, down, down, down. At what seemed like the bottom of a pit, she looked up and saw she was still being dragged by the golden horse. Then she closed her eyes and knew no more.


	2. May

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y'all! Sorry to make you wait, I had to work the day shift today. I am still unsure as to what my two days off are going to be, but when I know I will let you all know. There is more mention of sexism in this chapter. 
> 
> Disclaimer, I own none of these characters and I have never been to Nome so all my knowledge of the place comes from the book, The Golden Age of Dogsledding.
> 
> I am still looking for a beta reader so if any of you are interested, hit up my tumblr, @the-voice-in-the-dark.

_May, 1924_

 

Regina had found herself thinking about Emma a lot lately. And, she told herself, it wasn’t because she was away for longer than Regina thought she’d be. She didn’t know why the blonde haunted her thoughts, but the dark haired woman always caught herself thinking about the attractive woman disguised as a miner. One day, almost two weeks after they had left, Regina knew she was back. The whole town was buzzing with small-minded people whispering rumors all day. She finally got an earful of it while she was out buying groceries.

 

“Did you hear what they dragged into town? A girl!”

 

“A girl, you say? Where did they find a girl on that godawful road?”

 

“They said she was the fourth miner; that she disguised herself as a man to make money. The poor thing looked to be in quite the rough shape.”

 

Regina’s ears perked up as a group of three elderly women walked by her, whispering loudly enough to be audible.

 

“What did they do with her? Surely they put her out of her misery?”

 

“No, she’s in the hospital. Doctor was saying she was lucky that an infection was all she got.”

 

Regina’s heart clenched but she hurried on her way. When she returned home, she saw Henry walking down the road, his leather knapsack on his back. He stopped when he saw Regina’s purposeful stride as she headed towards the automobile they rarely used.

 

“Mom, what’s wrong?” He called out nervously.

 

“Henry, get in the automobile. Your friend is back.”

 

***

 

Emma slept for a long time, only waking up to be poked and prodded and fed before falling back to sleep. The first time she really woke up was to the sensation of hands running through her hair, a sensation she vaguely remembered her birth mother doing for her when she was too young to remember the woman clearly.

 

“Mom?” She whispered, confused and groggy. She opened her eyes to find herself lying in a slightly uncomfortable hospital bed, with Mary Margaret lying beside her, one hand poised to keep stroking Emma’s hair, the other wrapped around her shoulders.

 

“It’s just me,” the woman replied, soft affection and compassion on her face.

 

In the face of such love from the only woman Emma considered to be a motherly figure for her, the younger woman’s throat closed up and her eyes filled with stinging tears. A soft sob left her lips as she curled into Mary Margaret, her arms wrapping around the other woman while her head rested on her chest. She cried unabashedly as the woman who had saved her life two years ago held her close and murmured soothing words over her head.

 

Emma wanted to stay in that position forever, but as her tears dried up, confusion began to set in. She wasn’t in pain anymore, only a dull ache where raging fires once were, and she was clean and in a hospital gown.

 

“What happened?” She asked, her voice hoarse like she had been asleep for a long time.

 

“You passed out while looking for gold. David had known something was wrong but you refused to let him help you. When you passed out, he went to reach for you but August was closer and started doing compressions on your chest. That’s how he found out.”

 

Emma closed her eyes as fear and panic shot through her.In her efforts to blend in with the men around her, she had pushed herself too hard and had exposed herself.

 

“So everyone knows?”

 

Mary Margaret hesitated before answering. “Yes.” At Emma’s silence, she pressed on. “August, David and Killian built a sled for you and dragged you back to town. The doctor treated you because your wounds were infected and you had cracked a rib. But the infection is gone and the rib is on the mend.”

 

“How long have I been here?”

 

“A little over a week. You’ve been in and out all week but this is the first conversation we’ve had that’s made sense.”

 

“What about my job?” Emma asked in barely a whisper, afraid of the answer. Immediately, Mary Margaret’s brow crinkled and her eyes became sombre. 

 

“My father was here when they arrived in town. He… Was less than pleased. I’m going to be honest, i don’t know if you will be able to keep your job. I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

 

Just then, there was a knock on the door and Mary Margaret’s eyes brightened. 

 

“But onto some better news. You’ve had some faithful visitors this past week and I think they are here now.”

 

She stood up from the bedside and walked to the door, opening it slowly. Emma blinked at Henry, who stood on the other side and beamed brightly as soon as he saw she was awake.

 

“Emma!” The nine year old launched himself at her, and she barely caught him before he rammed into her ribs.

 

“Oh, boy! Hey, kid, good to see you, too!” She ruffled his hair, the presence of the young scamp enough to put a smile on her face. Another noise was heard from the doorway, the shuffling of feet, and she looked up to see Regina in the shadows. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of the woman. Shyly, she addressed her. “Hello there.”

 

Regina stepped into the light and Emma was surprised to see the clothes of mourning gone. Gone were the heavy, floor length dresses and the severe bun. Instead, her dark hair was plaited neatly in a braid down her back, and she wore an almost masculine blazer and pants.

 

“Hello, dear,” Regina replied in a voice of liquid velvet. As Emma continued to stare mutely at this beautiful woman who was talking to her, she cleared her throat and blushed slightly as she continued. “I am glad you are awake this time. Henry wanted to see you, and as you may or may not know, children shouldn’t be left unattended in hospitals.”

 

Emma nodded, seemingly unable to take her eyes off the other woman, and unable to find her voice. As the silence turned awkward, Henry decided to intervene. The boy rammed his elbow into Emma’s ribs. The ones that weren’t hurt, of course.

 

Emma coughed in surprise and looked down at the boy, who had a cheeky smile on his face and a knowing light in his eyes. “Ow, kid!” She protested.

 

“You were drooling,” he replied breezily. The three small words were enough to make Mary Margaret laugh and Emma and Regina blush profusely and avoid eye contact for the rest of the visit. 

 

As everyone left later that evening, when the nurse arrived with Emma’s medicine, the blonde reflected at how different Regina acted when she was not in the public eye. As the sleep inducing medicine travelled down her throat, she wondered drowsily if she would be lucky enough to see Regina give up the fierce half of herself to let this warm, soft and gentle side show through more brightly.

 

_I wish I could be the one to help you make that happen._

 

***

 

A few days after the first visit, Emma was discharged. Her ribs felt almost normal, only singing in pain occasionally if she stretched her arms too high or twisted weirdly. As she walked down the empty streets of Nome towards her log house on the edge of town, she realized she hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Leo Blanchard since she was lucid. She had seen David almost every day with Mary Margaret, even August showed up a few times, but they always remained vague as to where Leo was. She clung onto the slight hope that he was willing to overlook her gender and allow her to continue working.

 

With her heart expanding in that hope—doing exactly what Mary Margaret didn’t want her to do—her steps towards her house grew larger and lighter. Just as she could make out the familiar walls in the half-light of the evening, Ruby appeared on the steps of the neighbouring cabin, which belonged to “Roger” Lucas.

 

“Emma!” She called. There was something in her voice that sounded like warning, but Emma had already seen the piece of paper nailed to her door. She strode past the brunette, shrugging of her hand as she went. “Wait—”

 

But Emma didn’t wait. Her heart was sinking faster and faster now, with the twin emotions of fear and disappointment wrenching on her gut. She didn’t remember reaching the door, but there she was, reaching out with trembling fingers to the paper with the mining company’s logo on the corner of it. On the paper was the neat, masculine font of Leopold Blanchard in a hand written note addressed to her. She read it once in dread, then a second time in anger. Ruby caught up to Emma and put a hand on her shoulder. Emma threw up her hands in exasperation.

 

“What the hell is this… _Bullshit?_ ” She bellowed.

 

“Be careful, Em,” Ruby warned, casting fearful looks around her with scared green-brown eyes.

 

“What’s gonna happen, I’ll be discovered as a girl again? The whole town knows I am a woman! Listen to this blubbering asshole:

 

“ ‘Dear Ms. Swan (if that even is your name)

 

‘It is with my deepest regret that I must inform you that the house of which you are about to step foot in is no longer yours. I must remind you that women—for that is what you truly are—are not permitted to own their own property, nor may they work in Blanchard Mining Company. I am aware that my opponents are beginning to hire women further south, but for this company, a woman working in the goldfield is dangerous and stupid. This house and lot on which you stand is Blanchard Mining Company and I must ask you to leave immediately. The money paid to the alias Emerson Swan is also no longer yours, and was given to your male next of kin.

 

‘With kindest regards,

 

‘Leo Blanchard.’ ”

 

Ruby stared in horror at Emma while she fumed silently at first. Then not so silently.

 

“This is so much bullshit! ‘With kindest regards’? Tell me where in this letter does it seem kind? And the fact that he had to _write_ me this, he couldn’t just come and tell me this himself? He doesn’t have the balls to do that? I can’t believe no one told me this was coming!” Something clicked and Emma glared at Ruby. “Did you know, too?”

 

Ruby hesitated. “I didn’t know you would be losing your house, too.”

 

Emma’s fists clenched. It took a lot of self control not to punch her only friend in the teeth. “But you knew I was fired and you didn’t tell me.”

 

“Yes.” Emma’s control now snapped and she swung at Ruby. The other girl, seeing the blow coming, ducked but was not fast enough. The punch caught her on the cheek and she stumbled back. “Fuck!”

 

“Who else knew?” Emma thundered.

 

“Everyone! Most of us wanted to tell you, but we couldn’t! If any of us even hinted that you were fired to you, we would have lost our jobs, too! And Leo’s been using Hook as motivation to keep everyone quiet.”

 

“Hook? What do you mean?”

 

“That bastard’s been promoted to field supervisor. Who do you think told Leo about you in the first place? He’s cocky as can be—violent, too. Sneezy was sent to the hospital a few days ago for mentioning that the gold flowed better with you dredging.”

 

Alarm now replaced the anger Emma was feeling. “Jesus, man, why are you talking to me then?”

 

“Well, I had to let you know. Even if it meant I got punched in the face in the process.” She stood up a little straighter. “What kind of friend would I be if I just sat back and watched the doing this to you without giving you any warning?”

 

Emma’s heart swelled and she rushed to the girl who had helped her escape the traumatic Boston orphanage. Ruby, unsure what Emma was about to do, put her hands up in defence, but the blonde only wrapped her arms around the brunette’s shoulders in a fierce hug. 

 

“Thanks, Rubes,” she whispered, being careful to use Ruby’s name softly and infrequently.

 

“It’s nothing,” she replied, returning the hug after a minute. “Do you want to crash with me for a little bit?

 

Emma thought about it, then shook her head. “Thank you, but I couldn’t let you risk getting in trouble because of me. Play it safe, Rubes. This is a good paying job and you need it.”

 

Ruby nodded and extracted herself from Emma’s embrace. “At least let me help you get your stuff.”

 

The blonde woman grinned a shit-eating grin and cackled. “Let’s break the door down. I want to show Leo what a woman is capable of.”

 

***

 

After Emma and Ruby had broken into and stolen all of Emma’s belongs—that could fit into a knapsack anyways—they stood in the middle of the street. Twilight had crept up around them and the sky was purple with a speckling of stars starting to appear.

 

“Where will you go?” Ruby asked. Emma shrugged but her eyes were confident.

 

“Not far,” she said. “Nome is my home now, even if everyone in it hates me for who I am. I won’t bother with anyone in the mines. I don’t want to get them in more trouble. But I’ll figure something out.”

 

Ruby nodded and gave her one last hug. “Be safe.”

 

“I always am,” Emma laughed. She returned the hug and then headed on her way. She didn’t look back.

 

As the sky continued to darken in the city of Nome, Emma heard singing from a few streets over. She was close to the water and decided to go check it out. Sitting on a rock by a protected bay, wearing suspenders and a white shirt with no shoes and tossing a leather pouch that probably contained marbles, was Henry. He sung softly to himself, but gradually grew louder until Emma could hear him.

 

“One evening as the sun went down

And the jungle fires were burning

Down the track came a hobo hiking

And he said ‘Boys I’m not turning,

I’m headed for a land that’s far away,

Beside the crystal fountains.

So come with me we’ll go and see the Big Rock Candy Mountains.”

 

Emma sauntered up behind Henry and smiled as she realized the boy didn’t notice her.

 

“That’s quite the song,” she said, laughing as Henry jumped nearly ten feet and almost dropped his marbles. “Did you make it up?”

 

“It’s something I heard on Mom’s radio,” Henry replied, his eyes huge at the fright Emma had given him. “What are you doing here?”

 

Emma shrugged. “I’m going for a walk. Doc said it’d be good for me. Maybe I’ll go to the Big Rock Candy Mountains.” She winked and a smile flashed across Henry’s face before his hazel eyes got serious.

 

“Now what are you _actually_ doing here?”

 

Emma’s  shoulders sagged. “Damn, kid, you’re good. Okay, the thing is I was kicked out of my house by Leo Blanchard. So I’m just going wherever my feet take me.”

 

The boy’s face cleared and he smiled brightly, pocketing his marbles. “Well, lucky for you, walk no further! Your feet have taken you to one of the only places in Nome out of Leo’s reach.”

 

“Okay, kid you’re getting really dramatic. What is this place?”

 

“Emma Swan, let me show you my home. And don’t worry, my mom is the only person who isn’t afraid of Mr. Blanchard…”

 

***

 

Regina was walking home with the supplies to fix the leak in Henry’s room and thinking about Emma Swan , yet again. Oddly enough, the gossip about the girl had completely disappeared; it was as if the gossipers were afraid to mention her. The wives of the miners, so eager to find anything they could about the female miner earlier in the week now seemed to forget her existence. The sisters and mothers of the miners, who once watched her with bright judging eyes, now scowled dark glares at the blonde. The miners returned to the town at night battered and bruised, with shifting eyes and low voices. It was as if Emma were being blamed for the—

 

Regina’s eyes widened as she suddenly understood. Leo was trying to beat the miners until they forgot about the best gold digger in decades. The one who wasn’t a man, but a woman. For some reason, the dark haired woman felt a rush of satisfaction for what the blonde had done.

 

Emma had shown Leopold not only that women can fight just as strong as men, but that in some cases, they are stronger. And Mr. Blanchard, as one of the most stubborn and proud men in Nome, couldn’t have that.

 

Smiling smugly, Regina turned onto her street, head held high. She didn’t realize she was still smiling until it froze on her face as she opened the door and heard two voices inside her house, when she should have only heard Henry’s. She had left him home _alone_.

 

Her supplies dropped to the floor with a crash as she ran to where she heard Henry and the stranger. Upon entering the dining room, she was beyond confused to see Henry and none other than the woman who had been occupying her thoughts. The two were sitting down at the heirloom Spanish table passed down from Henry’s grandfather on the younger Henry’s first birthday. Both parties were so focused on the game of marbles they were playing, that they didn’t notice Regina standing in the entranceway. 

 

“Miss Swan,” Regina snapped, the ragged waste of emotions welled up inside her giving her voice a harsh, cold edge. It was eerily similar to her mother’s. “I hardly think this is the appropriate time or place for a game of marbles, don’t you?”

 

Both parties leapt to their feet instantly, Emma’s eyes startled and Henry’s eyes guilty. Marbles shot all over the floor as they stood.

 

“Mom, you’re home!” Henry replied, shooting a timid look over at Emma. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

 

“What’s all this about?”

 

“Well, Emma lost her home, you see, and I found her outside and I thought—”

 

But Regina was no longer listening to Henry. She rounds on Emma, her eyes narrow slits of amber ice.

 

“So you lost your home and decided you would prey on our hospitality? Is that it?”

 

“N-no, I—” Emma began stammering out a response, but Regina cut her off, on a roll in her outrage.

 

“Well, Miss Swan, let me tell you this. Henry is a _boy_ and was not given permission to invite you to live with us. You had no right entering _my_ house without my permission, and quite frankly at this moment you are not welcome. I suggest you leave, before I send for the authorities.”

 

“Yes, ma’am,” Emma gulped, scrabbling to her feet and producing a leather knapsack from under the table. A small dreamcatcher hung from under the flap. Not meeting anyone’s eyes, she mumbled, “Thank you for your time. I will not bother you again.”

 

Now her eyes lifted, and deep green irises met Regina’s golden-brown ones. The lady of the house’s breath caught at the soft, unsure light in those eyes that seemed to see down to her own soul. She blinked and looked away, cutting off the strange new yearning in her heart. She escorted Emma to the door and held it open for her.

 

“There’s a perfectly good hotel only three blocks down the road,” she snapped. Emma hesitated and stared at Regina with huge, unguarded eyes. 

 

“He took all my money,” she said softly. “He said that all the money I made as Emerson is with my male next of kin, but I don’t even know who that is!”

 

“Is that what you need?” Regina asked, the sharp edge replacing a bit. “Some money?” Daniel’s profit still sat in a chest in her room, untouched and unused unless to buy groceries or supplies.

 

To Regina’s surprise, however, Emma’s back stiffened and a shield came down over the softness in her big green eyes. “I will be fine. I don’t need any charity.” The blonde almost spat the words and the brunette realized her mistake. She had wounded the independent girl’s pride. 

 

Instead of apologizing for her mistake, Regina simply said, “Goodnight, Miss Swan.” She slowly shut the door as the blonde moved off her porch and off into the night, then let out a sigh of relief and picked up the scattered supplies around her feet before heading into the dining room to check on Henry.

 

Her boy was seated back down, staring at the table hard while twirling a marble in his hand. The rest were scattered around the floor.

 

“Henry, pick up the marbles, please,” Regina said, moving through the room into the kitchen, which had a back door that led to a shed in her backyard. She dropped off her supplies—she would fix the leak tomorrow morning—and made her way back inside. As she passed the dining room, Henry was in the same position, a scowl on his face.

 

“Henry, I said pick up your mess please,” she sighed, irritation rising in her. The boy mumbled something and Regina stopped walking. “What was that? Speak up when you’re talking to someone!”

 

“How could you do that?” Henry demanded, a fire blazing in his hazel irises. 

 

“Do what?”

 

“How could you kick her out like that? She has no where else to go!”

 

“Henry, we barely know her.”

 

“ _You_ barely know her, I know her from the mines.”

 

“The mines that you shouldn’t even be at because you should be in school!”

 

“But I’m not the one who just kicked her True Love out the front door!” Henry screamed. This caused Regina to pause.

 

“What?”

 

“Your true love that the Sun promised you—that was Emma!”

 

“Oh, Henry,” the brown haired woman sank to the floor on her knees before her son and took his arms, holding him so she looked into his eyes. “Henry, my sweet little prince, that was just a story.”

 

The chestnut haired boy wrenched himself out of her grip. “It’s not though! Emma was sent by my grandfather, the Sun, to be your true love. She was here for you! You just have to accept it!”

 

“It was a story! Your grandfather is not the Sun! Your grandmother is not the Moon! I am human, Henry, and Miss Swan is not my true love.” _Not to mention the fact that she’s a woman_ , Regina mentally added. She gathered herself up and steeled her face before she met Henry’s defiant face. “There is no such thing as true love.”

 

Defiance slowly melted into something much worse. Betrayal. Devastation battled with the betrayal on his face and Henry backed up. “But... The story—”

 

“Your grandfather, Henry the first from Spain, told me I would find love one day. All it was, was a warning for the marriage ahead. He knew I was to marry as soon as I landed here, Henry, and he was telling me not to be afraid. I have no true love. Your grandfather is not the Sun. The only person I love is you.”

 

She reached out for him but he flinched from her hand and took more unsteady steps back. “You’re lying,” he spat angrily. “Emma is your true love, and I know it!”

 

“Tell me how, then!” Regina exclaimed. “Explain to me why Emma Swan is my true love.”

 

“She doesn’t lie to you! She never has. She could have hidden the fact that she was a girl from you but she didn’t! Her heart is pure and she walked all the way from the home she doesn’t have anymore to here, just so she could have a safe place to stay!”

 

“Henry that doesn’t mean anything!” Regina’s voice was rising now. “Emma is a woman and I am a woman! It would be preposterous to think that we could love each other, not to mention _wrong_!”

 

Henry’s eyes were brimmed with tears, and while a part of Regina hated herself for making him cry, her anger was boiling over. “I didn’t think those silly stories filled your head with such foolish ideas, but clearly I was wrong! I will not have my son being known as the Prince of the Gypsies any longer! I forbid you from going to the mines. A boy with your kind of imagination should be in school, not out in some goldfield.”

 

Her son’s face was completely broken, and it shattered Regina’s heart to pieces. She knew that any minute now he would burst into tears and hug her, and she would break and be unable to go through with anything she just said. She was just waiting for him to hug her and she would take it all back. To her great surprise though, the boy stiffened and a wall came down over his eyes. In the shock of his reaction, Regina noticed that he looked just like Miss Swan. Henry blinked rapidly and only a single tear fell from his eyes.

 

“Fine. If I can’t convince you, I can convince _her_!” He turned on his foot and ran upstairs. Regina heard his fast, stomping footsteps upstairs and then his bedroom door slammed. The mother cringed as the house moaned in protest but she didn’t go to him. Chances were that he didn’t want to talk to her again.

 

Deciding to give him some time, Regina proceeded to clean the whole dining room of marbles and put them back in their leather pouch. On her way upstairs about an hour later, she peeked into Henry’s room to leave the marbles on his dresser where he would see them the next morning. He was fast asleep, his body hunched and turned away from the door and his head under the blankets. It was very quiet in his room, but Regina reminded herself that Henry was a very quiet breather.

 

“Good night, my prince,” she whispered. “I love you.”

 

She left his door open ajar and went to bed herself. When she woke the next morning, Regina peeked into Henry’s room first thing to see if he was up. She was expecting him to either be out of the house by now, or be having breakfast in the kitchen, but when she went to check on him, he was still in the same position as before.

 

“Henry, it’s time to get up.” She prowled into his room and sat on the edge of his bed. She put her hand on his shoulder to give him a light shake, but was alarmed to feel something soft and feathery instead. “Henry?”

 

Upon receiving no response, Regina ripped back the blankets and yelped in surprise. The bed was void of any boy; instead pillows and towels were arranged to make it look like there was a human under the blankets. Immediately, she took off, down the stairs, out of the house and yowling Henry’s name. Something he had said the night before clicked in Regina’s mind. _Fine! If I can’t convince you, I’ll convince_ her! Regina marched out of her driveway on a mission. She needed to find Emma Swan.

 

***

 

Emma was lounging in the sun like a great golden tabby cat outside of the general store when hands grabbed her and threw her against the store wall. Her eyes snapped open in an instant and she came face to face with Regina, whose eyes were blazing in more anger than they had last night.

 

“Where is he?” The brunette snapped, her face wild in more than just anger, Emma now realized. As the blonde tried to push off the wall, Regina pushed back. “Where is my son?”

 

“Look lady, I don’t know where he is!” Emma replied, the shock of being thrown against a wall without being ready making her manners blunt. “The last I saw him was at your dinner table. Why would you think I would know where he was?”

 

Regina’s face fell for a split second before she gathered herself and paced anxious circles, the only visible sign of the panic she was feeling. after a few laps of wordless circles, she turned and faced Emma. “He has some very crazy ideas about you,” she let out after a few minutes.

 

“Oh? Like what?”

 

“He seems to think you… Are some sort of hero.” A small alarm went off in Emma’s head, the only thing that told her Regina was lying. She let a small smile show on her face, but didn’t press the matter. 

 

“Where was the last place you saw him?”

 

“Last night. He and I had a disagreement. He took off after I… Told him he couldn’t go to the goldfield anymore.”

 

“Why would you say that?” Emma frowned at the other woman. Clearly she didn’t know that the goldfield and mines were Henry’s favorite place.

 

“Does it really matter, Miss Swan? Will you help me find my son or not?”

 

“Of course I’ll help find him! The kid’s probably gone to the field ’cause you specifically told him not to. They tend to do that when they feel the answer is unjustified. But don’t worry, I know all his hiding places. Just be lucky it isn’t blasting day today—wait. What day is it?” Emma felt alarm prickle her as she saw Regina shoot her a baffled glance.

 

“It’s Thursday. Why?”

 

Emma muttered a curse and began to run, calling over her shoulder, “ _Hurry_! Blasting takes place in less than half an hour and if Henry’s where I think he is, he’ll be in the middle of it!”

 

The blonde pretended not to hear the whimper that left Regina’s mouth for the sake of the powerful woman’s dignity, but she didn’t slow or make sure that Regina was still with her. By the stumbling footsteps just behind her, however, she judged that the brunette was keeping up just fine. Emma had no idea how powerful her legs and stamina were until she had blazed through the whole city of Nome and was halfway down the road that led to the mine before her lungs began to protest for air. She slowed down just a hair of a pace to allow more air into her body, and glanced behind her. Regina had fallen several paces back, but the other woman’s teeth were ground together and fierce determination shown in her eyes. Emma spared a heartbeat to muse bitterly about how fiercely this mother would fight for her child, when her own gave her up, but she was ripped from her thoughts as a boom rocked the air and trembles shook the earth. She saw how Regina’s knees almost buckled in despair, and without thinking, she ran back and grabbed the woman before she collapsed. “Don’t give up now!” Emma hissed, wrenching her to her feet. “We are almost there!”

 

“We’re too late,” Regina whispered.

 

“You don’t know that! Now come on!” Emma pulled the woman by their clasped hands and they took a stumbling step together before Emma released her and sprinted the rest of the way, adrenaline halting any of the exhaustion that had recently slowed her.

 

She stumbled down the hill to the mine below, her heart in her throat as she saw the dust and smoke bleeding from the underground tunnel entrance.

 

“ _Stop!_ ” She screamed, staggering and stumbling as three more blasts echoed from the mine. “You have to _stop_!”

 

No one could hear her though. The noises of the mine and goldfield were too loud for Emma’s voice, which was weak and breathy from running the whole way to the mine. With the fourth boom, Emma heard an ominous groaning from the entrance of the tunnel itself. Figures were suddenly rushing _out_ of the mine, and Emma knew what was happening. They had blasted the tunnel too much, and now it was giving out. She closed her eyes and gathered her breath. As Regina caught up, half panting, half sobbing, Emma turned to her.

 

“I know what I have to do.” She turned once more to the tunnel and did a quick calculation of how long it would take to reach the entrance. She began to move towards it. 

 

“Emma, wait.” As Emma turned, slightly impatient, she saw a strange light in Regina’s eyes. The brunette cut the distance between the two of them and stood a hair’s breadth away from the blonde, her brown eyes soft and vulnerable, allowing Emma to see into every emotion Regina was feeling at the moment. Hands were on her shoulders and for the briefest of moments, Emma’s heart jumped at the thought that Regina might kiss her. “Bring him home,” she whispered instead, her breath fluttering across Emma’s upper lip. She was so close Emma only had to lift her head just slightly and their lips would be touching.

 

But then the moment passed and time was of the essence. Emma dipped her head and stepped back. “I’m on it, Regina,” she murmured in response. Then she turned and ran.

 

August was the last person she passed who was fleeing the tunnel. He held a torch in his hand and his face was stained black from the acrid smoke of the dynamite sticks while is hair was dusty from sediment.

 

“Emma?” He reached out a hand to her but the determined woman side stepped him and avoided his grasp. “No wait! Emma, the mine is collapsing! Get back!”

 

Emma ignored him and leapt headfirst into a sliding dive that would have had Babe Ruth thoroughly impressed as the entrance gave one final groan and rained rocky debris all over her. She winced as her almost healed ribs protested all the exertion she had done, but she managed to get up and scrabble further into the mine, just barely outrunning the falling rocks. Outside she could hear August howling her name.

 

“August!” She bellowed back, managing to raise her voice above a hoarse cry. “I’m okay! Henry is in here, I’m going to find him and get him out!”

 

There was a pause and something that almost sounded like “Be safe” before the sound of rocks shifting sent the girl stumbling back further into the mine. Her foot sent something hard and metallic skittering across the stone floor, but as she reached out and fumbled with it in her hands, she realized it was a miner’s helmet with a candle still situated on it. Emma’s hand went to her pocket and she breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the thin edge of a paper match between her fingers. She swiped it along the side of the mine to light it and then lit the wick—it was an oil lamp which meant it would burn longer than just a candlestick hat—before placing the hat on her head. A swatch of watery light illuminated her surroundings, and she found a familiar leather knapsack belonging to Henry along with a set of mud-caked shoe prints leading further into the mine. She swiped the bag and threw it over her shoulder before continuing. 

 

Following the footsteps, Emma began calling quietly for Henry, afraid to speak too loudly lest the unsettled tunnel caved-in more. After what felt like hours of calling and walking, with the wick running low and beginning to flicker, and the smoke and dust getting thicker from the most recent blasts, Emma heard a whimpering response.

 

“Henry? Is that you?”

 

“Emma,” came the croaky response, further ahead in the dark and to Emma’s left. She hurried forward and found the nine year old on top of a rock heap, his eyes wide and fearful and a gash on his cheek caked with blood and dirt. She knelt beside him and scanned him with her eyes for any other injuries. His right ankle looked slightly swollen, and he was covered in small scratches and bruises—not to mention a lovely layer of grime and dirt—but luckily that seemed to be the worst of it. 

 

“Hey, kid, don’t you worry. I gotcha.” She grunted as she lifted him in her arms. He looked at her in surprise and awe and gave her a small smile. “What were you doing down here, anyways? I thought you had school.”

 

“Mom said I couldn’t come to the mines anymore because I told her you were her true love and she got mad at me. I didn’t know where you were, but I knew you’d help Mom look for me so I came here. But I forgot they were blasting today and I fell asleep.”

 

“Why would you tell her something like that?” Emma asked, baffled by such a declaration from the boy. 

 

“Because it’s true.”

 

“Well, no matter what, you are lucky she found me when she did. The whole tunnel is collapsed now, Henry.”

 

His eyes, already large, went huge, like an owlets. “You can get us out though… Right?”

 

“Don’t sweat it. I’ll get you back to the surface in no time.” Looking around the blast site, Emma spied darkness beyond the rock wall, where the dynamite had breached a gap into another space. She prayed to whatever higher being may have been listening as she squirmed her way through the small gap into the darkness beyond, holding Henry close to her chest. _Please let this be a way out._

 

***

 

On the surface above, Regina sat on a crate in the middle of the mining camp while the majority of the miners shifted on their feet anxiously. The sun was setting and the men clearing the tunnel entrance from where it collapsed just after Emma rushed headlong into it had made very little progress. August led the party with Roger— _Ruby,_ Regina mentally corrected herself—working with as much determination to get through to Emma as Regina had to reach Henry. To her great discomfort, Leopold Blanchard sat beside her, a hand on her shoulder while he whispered consolation in her ear. When some of the men began to look at her with glances of pity and sympathy, Regina snapped.

 

“He’s not _dead_ , you imbecile,” she growled. “Emma will find him and bring him back to me.”

 

Leo had grown silent after that, moodily excusing himself to go check on the progress of the tunnel clearance. Now, Regina wished for anything to break the silence and the fear taking over her mind.

 

“They’ll find them,” Mary Margaret Blanchard reassured Regina, the dark haired woman smiling gently at the brunette. Being a teacher at the only school in Nome, the pixie haired woman had arrived at the mine after the school day was over. Regina offered an awkward grimace back and went on to watch the men continue to clear debris from the tunnel. The sun had now sunk, and stars spread across the sky as the moon slowly rose, full and bright. Regina’s heart tugged as she realized how late it was, almost midnight. _Please, bring them home._

 

As she watched the tall, broad form that was August carry a rock over to the pile they had created, she saw him leap nearly ten feet in the air, then peer into a crack at his feet. Regina stood up as he yelled, “Bring a rope over here!”

 

Suddenly everyone was rushing to the crack in the ground, pickaxes and rope held in the hands of a few of the men. Everyone gathered so tightly that it was hard for Regina to push her way through, but then Ruby bellowed in a deep tone, “Everyone move! Let Ms. Mills through!”

 

Regina flashed the hidden girl a grateful glance as the men suddenly parted to let her pass. She knelt beside August as he fastened a rope to himself and began crawling into the hole. Just beyond him, Regina nearly cried out as she made out the features of her son’s face, a good ten feet below the surface. Ruby grabbed the end of August’s rope with David and a few of the others as the man pulled himself down until only his feet were visible. Regina could hear him murmuring something to Henry, then louder, “Pull!”

 

Ruby grunted and everyone holding the rope began to pull August back to the surface backwards. He flipped onto his back once his hips were clear of the crevice and emerged holding Henry—grimy and dirty from a full day underground—tight to his chest. Now Regina couldn’t resist calling out.

 

“ _Henry_ ,” she nearly screamed. She crawled over to August and almost shoved the man away from her boy as he stared at her with tears in his eyes. Tears stung her own as she gathered the nine year old into her arms and held him tight, sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder.

 

“I’m so sorry, Mom,” Henry bawled, sobs of fear, shock, and exhaustion shaking his shoulders. “I promise I will never do that again!”

 

“I know, Henry. I know.”

 

By the time they had both calmed down enough to stop crying in the face of all these strangers, August was reemerging with his hands holding on tight to Emma’s wrists. Gradually—slower than Henry had—Emma made her way out of the crevice, shaking in exhaustion but a proud gleam in her eye. She lay panting on the ground and staring at Henry in his mother’s embrace.

 

“Told you we could do it, kid,” she rasped. “I told you we could find a way out.”

 

Henry wormed his way out of Regina’s arms before hobbling his way over to the blonde haired woman. Regina noticed with a sudden pang of alarm that his ankle was slightly swollen, but it didn’t appear to bother him. He nearly pounced on his rescuer—no his _saviour—_ as he hugged her tightly.

 

“Thank you, Emma,” he mumbled into her shoulder. “Thank you so much.”

 

Emma nodded her response and let out a small chuckle of gratitude when August and Ruby returned to her side, August holding out a canteen of water to her. She nodded and accepted the canteen, guzzling some of the liquid back greedily before handing the rest over to Henry.

 

“Here you go, kid,” she said. “You were in there longer than me.” Her eyes managed to lock onto Regina’s, and the brunette stood and made her way to her before taking a seat beside her and placing a protective hand over Henry’s head as the boy drank the water while sitting in Emma’s lap. Regina looked back up at Emma and the woman smiled softly. She felt her whole heart fill with gratitude that threatened to choke her up. Clearing her throat, she dragged her eyes away from Emma and focused on Leopold Blanchard, who was watching on with disapproving eyes.

 

“Mr. Blanchard, if you would be so kind as to hear me out?” Regina announced. The mine owner started and then glanced at her curiously, motioning for her to continue. She grinned in a way that could only be described as wicked as she continued. “This woman, Emma Swan, has just saved the life of my son. I know that there is no way that I can repay her that will ever be enough, but to help her would be my way of beginning the life debt that I owe to her.” She paused for a second and glanced over at Emma, who was watching her with bafflement in her eyes. “As she has saved my son in _your_ mine that you must’ve known was unsafe, I demand that you give her her job back. It is only fair.”

 

To no one’s surprise, Leopold began to protest “But she’s—”

 

“A woman? Yes, Mr. Blanchard you are correct. However, she is a woman who has worked at this mining company for two years under the guise of a man and never once did you question her integrity. Clearly she has just proven herself to be brave and courageous, and she leapt into a mine that was falling as everyone else ran away. A mine in which my boy was in. Now, unless you want me to take legal action against you, I suggest you suck it up, pull up your britches, and allow this hard working, loyal and determined woman work for you again.”

 

Leo’s eyes became beady slits in his face as he looked over the blonde woman sitting on the ground, staring at him with wide eyes. Mary Margaret crept up to him in this silence and whispered something in his ear before sitting back down. After several long minutes of tense silence, Leopold hung his head with a sigh. 

 

“Do you want a job, Miss Swan?” He asked, almost timidly. Emma hesitated only a heartbeat before nodding her head very enthusiastically. “Very well. August, I was going to have you do this, but I will split the duty between the two of you. I have recently made a purchase that should be arriving next month from Russia. Thirty Siberian dogs—rats, really—have been purchased from the native peoples’ homes in exchange for ammunition and other essentials for civilized life. Each of you will take fifteen of these dogs and raise and train them to pull. Perhaps these Northern dogs will have better luck surviving the harsh Alaskan winters that Southerners—man and beast akin—find unbearable. It won’t pay as well, Miss Swan, but you will have enough to live by, and a roof over your head. Do you accept?”

 

“Yes, sir,” Emma almost shouted in her eagerness. A smile almost graced the man’s face, but it faltered at the last second. He jerked a nod and flashed Regina another timid glance.

 

“I will ready your cabin tonight and you will be able to move in tomorrow.”

 

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Leopold nodded and briskly turned on his heel, motioning to all the miners to head home after a long day. As everyone drifted their own separate ways, Emma glanced sideways at Regina, her eyes swimming with gratitude. Regina allowed a warm smile to spread across her own face.

 

“I believe I speak for both of us when I say that you are welcome to stay the night, Miss Swan.”

 

Emma dipped her head. “Thank you,” she murmured. Together, the three of them headed home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like, comment and bookmark! Thanks for reading!


	3. June

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! It's that time of week again! I hope you like it! It's been fun writing. Theres a bit of Swan-Mills family goodness in this, so enjoy that. As always, as a disclaimer, I do not own any of the characters (except the dogs). Enjoy!

_June, 1924_

 

As the late May sea ice break up changed into the June melt, Emma felt herself growing excited. The dogs were scheduled to arrive two weeks from the beginning of June, when the ice was mostly broken up from Nome to Siberia. The massive steel giant that was the carrier ship would dock as close to the shore as possible, then longboats with native handlers were to be sent in with the dogs, to help keep them calm. From the shore, wagons would haul the dogs to their new home.

 

Emma’s new house was further inland, along the bank of the Snake River, and was designed to be the dredge supervisor’s family house. With the absence of a supervisor, and the need for a large swatch of open space for the fifteen dogs, Leo designated the family house to Emma, who had no idea how she would fill the spaces. The ground floor was composed of four rooms; an office/sitting area occupied the front room, a spacious living area sat in the far left corner, and a dining room and kitchen were set up along either side of the staircase that led to the upstairs. A wide and cheery hallway connected all the rooms. Upstairs housed four different rooms; a children’s room, a guest room, the master suite, and an extra bathroom between the two non-occupied rooms. _For guests,_ Emma decided.

 

Her excitement only grew tenfold when, a week before the dogs’ scheduled arrival, August rode up the dirt road driving a Canadian iron pony towing a loaded wagon. The wagon’s load consisted of posts, boards of wood for dog houses, rolls of fencing, and a great expanse of dangling chains.

 

Emma frowned as she stood out on her front porch, watching her friend unload his tools. “What are the chains for?” She called as way of greeting.

 

“Good to see you, too,” August replied, shaking his head in amusement. “The chains are tethers so the dogs don’t get loose. Most mushers use ’em, or so Geppetto told me.” Geppetto was Nome’s carpenter, who also doubled as the town’s furrier and blacksmith. He was known throughout the town as the mushers’ best friend—the Italian knew everything about dogsledding and dog care.

 

Emma hummed, eyeing the iron with hesitance in her eyes. For some reason the thought of her dogs on the chains reminded her of her imprisonment in the orphanage. She had no experience taking care of another human being, let alone fifteen creatures who had no voice of their own, but Emma never wanted anything else to feel as she did in her childhood. 

 

“I’m not sure if I like that idea. Why not convert that barn over there into a kennel?” She pointed to where the stable stood beside her house, small and overlooked by her before. She had no horse and saw no need for the building otherwise. “It’s already got the stalls, all it needs is some fencing around it.”

 

August observed the building and let out a little huff of air, as though he hadn’t even considered it. “That’s a good idea. We can put some dog houses up inside the stalls and put down some straw in the winter for extra insulation—it’ll be so luxurious, these wild dogs won’t know what hit them! Plus it’ll save us some time.”

 

With that, the plan was set and the pair began to work tirelessly on changing the stable into a kennel. Most days started off cool, with Emma and August wearing wool jackets while they worked, but by mid day, August would be stripped down to his suspenders, with a pile of clothes along side wherever he was working, and Emma would be dressed down to her undershirt and pants. Henry and Regina stopped by nearly everyday for lunch—even though he was supposed to be in school—and work usually took an hour or two break before getting back at it for another three to four hours, until the sun reached it’s peak at three in the afternoon. August usually stuck around and ate supper with Emma while the midnight sun watched on from the horizon, then loaded up his iron pony and left. 

 

Two days before the dogs arrived, the kennel was finished, and Emma decided to throw a party to celebrate. She naturally invited August, Regina and Henry, but also invited Mary Margaret, David and Ruby. All her friends in one place. 

 

Ruby—disguised as Roger—arrived first, and quickly excused herself to the bathroom. When she emerged, she was free of her manly disguise, wearing a long, red dress and with her long chestnut hair draped over one shoulder. She even had some color on her lips and eyes. Emma let out an appreciative whistle.

 

“Damn, Rubes!” Emma said. There was a chuckle behind her and Emma nearly jumped out of her skin.

 

“You’re not cursing in front of my son, are you, Miss Swan?” Regina stood behind her, her bronze eyes shining under smoky eyelids. She wore a black dress with an ruff of elegant silver fox fur, and her raven hair was curled and held in place with a headband with a black stylish feather. Emma found herself gaping and at a loss for words. A sigh from Regina’s side broke the moment.

 

“Not again,” Henry grumbled, though he had a smile on his face. He was dressed in a plaid shirt with a pair of nice pants on, one of the few without stitches where Regina had patched them up and his unruly mop of hair had been tamed. Emma smiled as he leaned heavily on the crutch that the hospital had given him. She knew the boy hated it, but they didn’t want him putting weight on his ankle, which he had sprained in the mines.

 

Emma rolled her eyes and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Never you mind, boy,” she laughed. Her eyes darted back up to Regina and she said, almost shyly, “You look beautiful.”

 

Henry let out a pointed cough and Emma sighed. When she looked back down at him, he was giving her a very serious glance. Of course he still held onto the belief that she was Regina’s true love, a thought that had hardly left her head since the incident at the mines.

 

“Henry, why don’t you go see what we have for drinks in the fridge?” She suggested, changing the subject that hadn’t actually been broached. Once the boy had left to go check the new device that Emma was surprised to find in her home on her first day, the blonde adverted her eyes from the rather attractive woman standing in front of her and went to the porch to wait for August, David and Mary Margaret. It didn’t take long before they arrived in August’s iron pony drawn wagon, the married couple sitting on the driver’s bench while August lounged in the back. 

 

Mary Margaret wore a pale cloche hat and a yellow-and-orange floral flapper dress that brought out the green in her eyes, while David was dressed comfortably in suspenders and a pale blue button up. August, on the other hand, had decked himself out in a very dapper black tuxedo, a top hat, and he completed the look with a cigar hanging from his mouth. Although it was unlit, the man—who was so serious when Emma had met him—now sported a goofy proud grin on his face.

 

She burst out laughing as she greeted her guests after they had parked the pony—his name was Icarus, Emma learned—detached the wagon and placed it beside Regina’s automobile, and led him out to the newly renovated dog yard, where Ruby’s chestnut stallion was already grazing on the stunted tundra grass.

 

“Well don’t you all look so posh!” Emma exclaimed, kissing Mary Margaret on both her cheeks. David would have none of that and wrapped his arms around her in a hug, while August just bowed.

 

“Admit it, Em,” he said rising from the bow. “I’m the bee’s knees!”

 

“That you are, Sarg! Why so dressy?”

 

“It’s not every day you finish a project! You got to celebrate the little things in life! Plus, it isn’t often Nome has a party. I’m taking advantage of this!”

 

“Emma!” That was Ruby, walking briskly down the hall. “You may want to get in here before Henry pours himself some whiskey! That boy is already rambunctious enough without alcohol in his body! It’s no wonder there’s a prohibition in the south.”

 

“Where’s Regina?” Emma asked with a frown. Ruby nodded towards the dog yard, where both the black iron pony and the chestnut stallion were crowded at the fence, sniffing inquisitively at the brunette who lounged on the fence, idly scratching Icarus’s nose.

 

“Apparently, she really likes horses.” Ruby stepped onto the porch.

 

August did a double take as she walked out in all her feminine beauty. “ _Roger_? You’re a—”

 

“My name is Ruby, actually.” The girl interrupted. “Emma and I left the same orphanage, hence—” She motioned to her body, as if referencing her disguise.

 

“Gotcha. Don’t worry then, Miss Ruby, you’re secret is safe with me.” August winked good-naturedly at Ruby and the girl’s mouth trembled slightly as she smiled. “I better go check on the boy.” With that August made his way inside.

 

David laughed and nudged Ruby. “Don’t tell Leo, he might give all your money to me like he did with Emma!”

 

Emma’s head snapped around. “Wait what? _You_ are my next of kin?”

 

“I told him you were my niece.” She could have laughed with relief. David had her money, not some random stranger who had no care in the world for her. David’s blue eyes turned mischievous. “How did you think we could afford these?” He held up a package of a dozen corn cobs he had grabbed from August’s wagon and Emma’s mouth flew open.

 

“Where did you get those?” Her eyes were round in awe as she grabbed the package, feeling the corn to make sure it was real. “It must’ve cost a fortune!”

 

“Fifty cents a cob, flown in from Fairbanks. But worth it.”

 

“Yes, today is to celebrate,” Mary Margaret chimed in, smiling at Emma in pride. “You deserve this job and I know you’ll do well with those dogs!”

 

Regina, who had heard the gathering on the porch, was drifting over and caught the tail end of Mary Margaret’s sentence. She watched as a shadow flickered across Emma’s bright face, only to disappear a moment later. No one else commented on the look. August came out a moment later, carrying a laughing Henry, whose smile split from ear to ear, under one arm. 

 

“Guess who was trying to break into the liquor unit,” August announced, swinging Henry around. Regina tensed.

 

“Henry Daniel Mills!” She shouted. “You are not old enough to be drinking alcohol!”

 

“Relax, Mom, it was only one sip! August drank the rest before I could!”

 

Everyone shared a chuckle at that, and the party started full swing. Everything was easy and fun; Emma grilled the rare corn on the cob over her fire pit in the backyard, added some salmon and some other plants from the area with it and made a delicious meal. Afterwards, the boys and Ruby somehow produced baseball gloves, a ball and a bat, and went out to play ball in the dog yard amongst the horses. They used the moving, laid back horses as the bases, which made for great entertainment for Emma, Regina and Mary Margaret to watch. Surprisingly, no one got kicked by any horses. August would always pick up Henry so he could run without hurting his ankle, and Henry loved every minute of it. 

 

Regina felt her heart tug. Maybe this is what having an actual family felt like. 

 

“Well, if you two don’t mind, I do believe the john is calling my name,” Mary Margaret announced, cutting into Regina’s thoughts as she set down the wine she was sipping and made her way inside. 

 

Once Emma and Regina were alone on the porch, watching the four scamps in the field playing baseball, the look Regina saw on Emma’s face flashed before her mind. It was time to get to the bottom of it.

 

“So, you finished up the kennel,” she said as way of introducing the topic. Emma nodded.

 

“Yeah.” She picked at her cuticles without saying anything more. _Okay_.

 

“Do you have enough space for fifteen dogs in there?”

 

“I certainly hope so.” Again that look, that quick flash of worry darted across the blonde’s face before she schooled her features.

 

“Are you looking forward to this?” Regina pressed, leaning closer as she noticed the blonde biting her lip. A non-committal shrug.

 

“Yeah, I suppose.”

 

“You suppose? What is there to suppose? You’re going to have fifteen dogs running around here in two days, are you prepared or not?”

 

“Jeez, Regina, I don’t _know_ okay?” Now Regina is getting the reaction she was looking for. The blonde was getting worked up and defensive, which meant something was up.

 

“You can talk to me, you know.” Fiery emerald eyes met hers in a storm of suspicion that slowly bled into a different expression; mistrust. Hurt stirred in Regina’s heart. She’d thought that the blonde and she were friends, and she didn’t give Emma a reason to mistrust her. But then it dawned on her. This was a fall back reaction from the blonde’s past, similar to her own when she encountered situations that reminded her of her mother. She knew pushing the situation wouldn’t be the best idea. But the dark haired woman saw the hidden message hiding in Emma’s eyes, a yearning plea to let someone know.

 

“Trust me,” she whispered, her hand unwittingly landing on Emma’s. “Just let me in.”

 

So Emma took a deep breath and told her. She told her about her fears of how she was never able to get anything right, and didn’t want her dogs to feel that ever; but most of all, she was scared that she couldn’t do it.

 

“Of course you can do it, Emma!” Regina encouraged, her arm sneaking up to above Emma’s elbow, where she squeezed the well-toned muscle comfortingly. “They will be _you’re_ dogs. You are the only person who they will know and trust. I believe in you.”

 

Emma’s ears pricked at that, searching for any sign of a lie, but she was unable to find one. For once in her life, she made the decision to trust someone. She gave Regina a flash of a smile as Mary Margaret appeared once more. She finally allowed herself to be happy.

 

* * *

 

 

The day the dogs arrived was a dreary, cloudy day. There was a salty, wet tang to the air which promised a storm off the ocean later that day. Emma woke early, when the sun was still hovering along the eastern horizon, and meticulously checked each stall in her kennel and the fence around the dog yard. Once she was sure there was no issues with it, she returned to her home, stoked up the fire in the stove in her kitchen and boiled a pot of coffee. She hardly touched her cup, too excited to quell the butterflies hammering in her stomach.

 

She was waiting for David and Mary Margaret, who were coming with her to help her transport the dogs back once she had them. They arrived at precisely seven in the morning, driving a wagon pulled by pair of draught horses, and were greeted with the sight of Emma racing off the porch towards them, legs flying and arms fumbling with putting on a leather jacket. The blonde jumped onto the bench between Mary Margaret and David, and placed a kiss on the pixie haired woman’s cheek. David chuckled.

 

“Excited?” He asked with a smile on his face. 

 

“You have no idea!”

 

“That’s what I thought. Do you have everything?” Emma nodded and patted her leather knapsack. “Good. Did you look in the back?”

 

“I did not, no.” With that said, Emma turned and spied herself six large wood frames, with metal poles along each side. 

 

“Leroy owed us a favor,” David explained. “He has a hunting camp further inland and doesn’t have any dogs right now, so he said you could borrow ’em to get your dogs here. I figure we’ll put three in each. He said he’ll grab them on his way into town sometime next week.”

 

“Wow! Thanks, guys. That really means a lot.” Indeed, gratitude was swelling in Emma’s chest with every word. David just put an arm around her shoulder, the warmth filling her soul. The ride to the beach was consumed by a charged, excited air. When they got to where a small crowd had gathered, and the mighty steamboat could be seen just off shore, Emma had to resist the urge to jump out of the wagon and bouncing from foot to foot like an excited little girl. Even so, she still rocked back and forth a bit as she waited for David to pay the boy in charge of looking after the horses. The Nolan’s chuckled as they saw the excitement clear as day on Emma’s face. Finally, it was time for the trio to head down to where August and Leopold waited by the water’s edge. Mary Margaret and David stopped where the rest of the crowd was, motioning Emma to stand next to August. The girl needed no prompting. 

 

She gave August a pat on the back as she stood beside him, staring hard at the boat to see if she could make out any of the dogs. She had no idea what to expect.

 

“Are you nervous?” August asked.

 

Emma shook her head. “Only excited.”

 

“Good.” He took a deep breath and faced out to sea. “Here we go.”

 

Emma noticed Regina and Henry sneaking into the gathered people as Leopold was finishing up his rambling speech. She grinned and waved at them, but found that their attention was drawn to the longboats, which were making their way to shore at a steady pace. The blonde’s eyes strained to see any sign of the dogs, but all she could see were dark shadows moving around. The two boats were corralled towards a section of beach that had a temporary dog yard staked into the sand.

 

“Right,” Leopold said, turning to Emma and August. “You will each pick a dog, one at a time, until you both are in the possession of fifteen dogs. Do you understand?”

 

“Yes, sir,” Emma and August both replied, each wearing the same grins. All the hairs on Emma’s next stood on end as beautiful howls drifted up from the boats. She slowly turned to take in the dogs for the first time. She wasn’t sure what she expected the “Siberian rats” to look like, but this wasn’t it. The thirty dogs sitting in the boats resembled small wolves; each was thick coated, had raised ears, and many were black or grey with some white mixed in. A few, though, were a dark, brown-cream-black color. She could even make out some blue eyes as each dog paced the boat, looking out at the crowd. They were all collectively smaller than the other dogs in Nome; the native Malamutes lent their size to the lop-ears that were bred from the southerners pointers and hound dogs.

 

Suddenly, one of the dogs leapt from the boat. Everyone on the beach collectively gasped, and Emma held her breath as the dog swam confidently the last few paces. It climbed gracefully on shore, the water draining easily from it’s silvery-blue and white fur, and then it ran. Straight for Emma.

 

“Whoa!” She gasped, holding out her arms in defence. She didn’t even need to; the dog’s feathery tail wagged so hard it nearly knocked itself over, it’s ears went flat to it’s head, and it’s ice blue eyes squinted like it was grinning. It nearly leapt into her arms and the surprise of it knocked her over. She laughed as she ran her hands through it’s fur, feeling the strong muscle beneath, even though it’s stomach was distended and plump. “This one’s been eating well I see!”

 

“It’s a girl,” one of people on the longboat called out in a heavy accent. They were unloading the other dogs, who splashed and played in the shallows and sand as if there was nothing else they’d rather be doing. “She’s a bit of a fireball, but always a sweetheart. If you whistle, she’ll always come. And she’s always the first one to the food. A good leader.”

 

Emma looked at the dog in her arms thoughtfully, then looked up at August. He laughed and held his hands up. “I think she’s chosen you, Em. Wouldn’t want to break up something like that!”

 

Emma grinned brightly and reached into her knapsack that she still carried. A beautiful, brown leather collar sat inside, a collar that she had told herself she would give her first dog. Now she slipped it onto the silver female’s head, while the dog tried in vain to sniff at it. Emma stroked her feathery ears as David approached. “I’m sure we will get along beautifully, Felice.”

 

***

 

The first month with the dogs was filled with many interesting events, including Emma learning to master the art of fishing. Her dogs only ate fish, as she discovered through trail and error. In order to save her newfound wallet—David transferred her money to her whenever she got payed as Leo refused to pay her directly—Emma invested in a fishing pole and taught herself how to catch fish in the salmon-filled waters of the Snake River. August accompanied her to Geppetto’s shop, where the craftsman gave them their dog harnesses and some tips on how to train them. It was August’s idea to ask the older man to build them “pup-mobiles”; two very basic contraptions half the size of an automobile and light enough to be pulled when loaded with mining gear. The contraption was completed with four small wheels to make it mobile in the summer months. August believed that the old train tracks—which never even saw a train—that ran through Nome to the mines would be flat enough for the mobiles to be able to stay in one piece. It would take two months for Geppetto to build both, so there was time for Emma and August to train the dogs to pull in the meantime. 

 

Emma—with the help of Henry—spent her time teaching her dogs obedience and giving them names. Most of her dogs were quick learners, and Emma quickly began to read their own unique personalities. Whenever she thought she knew all she could about the dogs, they quickly showed her otherwise.

 

One day, while she was working with the six dogs she named Chi, Saugeen, Frisk, Bandit, Tempest and Thunder on their basic obedience in the dog yard, there was a ruckus from the kennel. She turned to look as the main door leading out of the kennel flung open and three shapes darted out. She recognized the white form of Chuk, Chi’s twin, the wolf gray female with a docked tail who had no name yet, and then her heart caught in her throat as the plump body of Felice came through, running just as hard as the other two. Emma shouted to them, causing the six dogs she was working with to realize what was going on. The six darted towards the fence, yelping excitedly. At Emma’s shout Chuk and Felice stopped on a knoll on the edge of the woods, but the dark grey female did not.

 

“Felice you get back here!” Emma’s heart was in her throat at the thought of losing these dogs. The dog in subject only watched her with a wagging tail and laughter in her blue eyes. There was a twang and two figures darted out of the dog yard, one dirty brown in color, one white. “Bandit, Chi! No!”

 

Chi paused and looked back at Emma like he was going to come to her, but Chuk yowled from the hill and the hesitating dog hesitated no more. Bandit hardly stopped at the hill, instead following right on the paw steps of the other escaped female. Chi caught up to Chuk and Felice, and the three dogs also turned tail and headed into the woods at a much slower pace.

 

Emma finally noticed the hole that Bandit and Chi escaped from, the one where the grey-brown shape of Tempest was excavating to make bigger. She quickly grabbed the young female and lifted her over her shoulder, distracting Frisk, Saugeen and Thunder from the hole. Keeping a strong grip on the very undignified and unimpressed Tempest, the blonde managed to corral the other three out of the dog yard and into their kennels. She secured each door and double checked the other seven, who were excited but not trying to escape.

 

Feeling reassured, Emma locked the main door to the kennel and took off to round up her runaways.

 

It took her two hours to find Chuk, Chi and Felice, who thankfully stuck together. She found them just inside the tree line near the back of her property, frolicking like it was the best day in the world, and bribed them to return home with the promise of extra fish. She was just securing the twins’ kennel when the sound of hooves on dirt alerted her that she had company. She almost cried in relief when she saw August atop of Icarus, with Bandit sitting proudly in front of him on the great black horse.

 

August chuckled as he dismounted, then caught Bandit as he leapt from the horse. He set the dog down on the ground and leaned against Icarus. “I’m telling you, Emma, I should get myself an automobile with the amount of times I am running back and forth from my kennel to yours.” He patted the agouti colored dog as he sat on August’s feet.

 

“Well at least someone likes you!” Emma shot back. Bandit seemed to grin cheekily at his owner as she glowered at him. “Where did you find him?”

 

“Outside of my kennel, visiting with some of my dogs. You should’ve named him after me, too!” He pointed to where Booth was standing in his kennel, the black and white dog alert and watching the situation while not actually standing or getting excited.

 

“Well I named him Booth because he reminds me of _Sergeant_ Booth, the sulky.”

 

“Touché.”

 

“Bandit, heel.” Emma commanded. After a lazy yawn, the dark colored dog stretched and got to his feet before sauntering over to Emma and lying down at her feet. The look in his eyes seemed to say, _There, are you happy now?_ “You tramp.”

 

“Why thank you,” August bowed as Emma let out an exasperated sigh. The amused glimmer in his blue eyes sobered a little as he saw how stressed the blonde seemed to be. “What can I do to help?”

 

“Can you take this idiot to his kennel and make sure no one else gets out? I need to go track down one more still.”

 

* * *

 

 

In the lonely house on the bay, Regina and Henry were playing a game of marbles when the doorbell rang. 

 

“I got it,” Henry insisted, standing and running on his newly healed ankle towards the door. Regina winced. He had only just received the news earlier that day that he no longer needed his crutch, but was advised to take it easy for awhile. 

 

Regina heard the door open, and her heart sank as she heard the familiar voice of Leopold Blanchard on the other side. “Hello, young lad,” he said, his voice oddly cheerful. “Is your mother around anywhere?”

 

The brunette sighed and got to her feet, making her way slowly to the door. She knew what this was about. She had been out of mourning clothes for nearly two months, and had been expecting this since the first day she decided she had had enough of the heavy dresses. She stood at the doorway and greeted Leopold less than cordially as Henry squirmed passed her and back to his marbles.

 

“Mr. Blanchard,” she sighed, wincing at the disturbing smile the man before her gave. “What can I do for you?”

 

He stiffened his back, standing sharp and at attention, although his small plump belly still sagged beneath his suit jacket. “Miss Mills—Regina, apologies. I am here to tell you that as of now, I am courting you. I would like to join you for dinner tonight.”

 

Regina’s eyebrows shot up at the commanding tone he used, the direct manner he spoke with, the fact that he allowed her no opinion. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to force her outrage down so she could remain calm. Before she could even utter a word, Leopold let out a surprised bellow and Regina’s eyes snapped open.

 

A grey-brown wolf-like dog was weaving it’s way through the legs in the open entranceway. When Leopold shouted the dog jumped and shot him a less than impressed glare before walking inside. Immediately the man let out a dissatisfied grunt.

 

“That must be one of Emma’s dogs,” he sneered, his lip curling as he spat Emma’s name. “That damn woman must already be failing miserably. As I’m sure you agree, having women in the work force is a terrible idea. They always screw up the easy things with their femininity, and the hard things make them balk. You see, it is the man’s job to protect the woman, and the woman’s job to worship him. None of this independent baloney is good for anyone. No woman is capable of being independent. That is their God given nature, and that is the truth.”

 

Regina stood absolutely still, her eyes squeezed tight and her fingernails digging into her palms until crescent moons indented in the skin. During the man’s rant, he had invited himself in and now stood in the hallway, observing the small shrine to Daniel that Henry and Regina had made. The woman was absolutely fuming, yet Leopold remained oblivious. He continued on his rant as he spied dirty paw prints from the dog headed into the dining room. 

 

“That damn vermin of a dog should be shot for entering your sacred area of residency. The slave shouldn’t sleep in the master’s quarters.” He then continued his rant about women, but while doing so had produced a small hand gun and was in the process of loading it while standing in the doorway to the dining room, where Regina could see Henry sitting with the dog in his lap, staring with round eyes at Leopold. Alarm now shot through Regina. She ran and placed herself firmly in the doorway, cutting off Leopold from one of his many spewings.

 

“You will do no such thing,” she spat, so much venom in her voice that she could taste it on her tongue afterwards. Leopold looked startled and attempted to protest, but Regina would have none of it. “That is my _son_ in there, and you will do well to remember you are an uninvited guest in my house, Mr. Blanchard.”

 

The man was positively blustering now. “But! The dog—”

 

“Is not yours nor is it mine. You do not hold the authority, no matter if you are male or not, to end that dog’s life without it’s _rightful_ owner’s permission. Shall I call Miss Swan to deal with the problem?”

 

His nose wrinkled, but he nodded his head in affirmation. “Yes, it should please me for you to do so.” Without another word, he pocketed the gun, pulled out a cigar, lit it and sat in the sitting area, looking for all the world like he owned the house.

 

Nearly growling in displeasure, Regina stalked to her phone, picked up the microphone and pulled out the book of numbers for the area. She found the address of the blonde, dialled the number, and held to earpiece to her ear. After two rings, the line connected and Emma’s distracted sounding voice came through.

 

“You’ve reached the Swan house. Emma speaking.” She sounded almost defeated, and for half a second, Regina wondered as to why. 

 

“Miss Swan,” she clipped out, her words sharp and angry. “One of your animals has just invaded my home. You would do well to get here immediately.”

 

There was no response, just a click as the line went dead. Regina paced anxiously, trying to dispel some of her anger as the arrogant man perched regally on her armchair, stinking her house up with cigar smoke. Regina heard shuffling in the dining room and peeked in to see Henry with the dog in his arms. He shot her a wary look and then scooted up the stairs in the back of the dining room with the dog, giving her another glance as though asking her permission. She nodded once and then turned back to Leopold, who was watching her as though he was eyeing up a juicy meal.

 

“I want you to leave my house,” Regina snapped, her voice cold and unfeeling. “I will handle this situation without your help.”

 

Leo said nothing, only stretched and puffed on his cigar before tossing it into Regina’s clean fireplace, much to her annoyance. She led him to the door and held it open for him as he strolled out with his hands clasped behind his back. He paused just outside the door and Regina sighed exasperatedly before peering around him and seeing Emma panting at the driveway. A surprised look was on her face as she saw her boss leaving the house, but Regina brought the woman’s attention back.

 

“Miss Swan!” She nearly shouted. Emma jumped and sheepishly started to make her way to Regina, who grabbed the other woman’s upper arm and pulled her inside.

 

“Regina, I’m sorry about the dog, I—” Regina let go of Emma as soon as the door was closed, and turned to face her. The blonde was going on about something, probably related to the dog, but in that moment, the shock and anger and outrage against Leopold just melted away into something much… Softer. Something vulnerable and piercing, something she hadn’t felt in very long time. Tears pricked Regina’s eyes and she managed to throw herself into Emma’s arms before the tears fell and she made a fool of herself. 

 

Emma stood there, stunned, as the seemingly rage filled brunette held onto her like her whole life depended on it. “I… Jeez, Regina, if the dog did something or hurt you, I’m really sorry.”

 

“It’s not the damn dog,” Regina managed to let out a watery laugh and backed away from the blonde, her face red and puffy now from tears. “It was Leopold.”

 

“Do I even want to know what he did?”

 

“He… Wants to court me. But your dog came at the right moment and saved me from having to sit through dinner with that _pig_ of a man. So thank you.”

 

“I… Didn’t do anything,” Emma said.

 

Again Regina laughed, and Emma realized just how much she liked the sound of that laughter. “You must’ve done _something_ , your dog is not where it was this morning! It’s currently upstairs, probably mauling my son to death.” There was a joking tone in Regina’s voice.

 

“It’s a she.”

 

“Does she have a name?”

 

“Not yet, no.”

 

Regina made a non-committal noise in her throat and then headed towards the stairs.  “Well, come on, we should probably round up this dog or Henry might be convinced that she’s his.” 

 

The two women made their way upstairs and entered Henry’s room, finding the boy on his bed, lying down, with the dog on his torso, her head and front paws resting on his chest as she stared with wise brown eyes at the boy who was stroking her gently.

 

“Sorry to break up the cuddle party, bud,” Emma said with a smile. Henry looked up at her with a small pout on his face. “I know she’s cuddly, but she’s got to come home now.”

 

Henry sighed, but sat up and watched as the dog leapt down and trotted over to Emma obediently at the woman’s whistle. The blonde haired woman picked up the dog and Regina smiled at the sight. She put a hand on Emma’s shoulder. “I can give you a drive home so you don’t have to worry about her getting away from you again.”

 

Emma nodded gratefully and said goodbye to Henry before heading down the stairs once more with Regina. As soon as they were out of sight, Henry grinned to himself. He knew the women couldn’t see it, but it was becoming clearer and clearer that they were each others’ true love. They got in the automobile and Emma let go of the dog so she could rest on the back bench while she and Regina sat on the front bench.

 

“I’m sorry about Leo,” Emma murmured as they were getting close to her house. “He’s very backwards when it comes to women.” A tight, withdrawn look came over Regina’s face. Emma bit her lip hard, hating herself for bringing up that asshole of a man. “Look, if he bothers you again, just let me know and I will set loose all my dogs on him.”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Miss Swan, I am perfectly capable of handling myself without you losing your job.” Emma winced at the sharpness in Regina’s tone. The brunette’s copper colored eyes softened a bit and she continued more gently, “But thank you for that thought.”

 

The rest of the drive was in silence as Regina tried to fight her way out of dark thoughts, and Emma mentally beat herself up for putting the other woman in that place. At Emma’s house, she nearly jumped out before the car had even stopped. 

 

“Thanks for driving me and this idiot,” Emma said, motioning the dog out. She hopped out and trotted towards the kennel, the stump of her tail raised high in pride. 

 

Regina hummed and Emma took that as her cue to leave. As she was turning around, however, words followed her.

 

“Emma, wait.” The green eyed woman turned around expectantly and Regina smiled a dazzling smile brighter than a fire. “I think Nettie is a good name for her.”

 

The dog owner smiled right back and turned to the dog, who was staring at her from the kennel entrance. “Well, come on, then, Nettie! Let’s get you all settled. You have work to do, my dear!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like, leave comments, bookmark the story, and follow me on tumblr: @the-voice-in-the-dark


	4. November

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry about the wait, the month of July is insane when you work at a provincial park! I am a few weeks and a day behind, but I have my days off which are Sundays and Mondays, so I am going to try my best to be updating on those days from now on :)
> 
> In case anyone is wondering, these are the fifteen dogs that Emma owns: Booth, Bandit, Felice, Chuk, Chi, Saga, Tempest, Ocean, Thunder, Shasta, Saugeen, Frisk, Fox, Nettie and Star.

_November, 1924_

 

“Taiga! Come here!” Emma called. The reddish-brown, six month old puppy perked up from where he was gnawing on Booth’s tail line, while Booth looked on as though he was amused. After a hesitation, he reluctantly dropped the rope line and trotted back to Emma, who ruffled his fur and sighed before clipping him back to his place beside Tempest. “You silly pup!”

 

Puppies were one thing Emma had _not_ signed up for when she had gotten her team, and yet, a few days after Nettie had escaped to Regina and Henry’s house—the first time—Emma watched Felice grow moodier and plumper until one day she went in the kennels and found her with three puppies curled up at her belly. Only two lived through the first day, but one died during that first night. The last puppy, Taiga, was incredibly weak and very thin and sickly. Emma panicked when she saw that the other puppy had died—she had stayed up all night watching them after she had moved them into her house where it was warmer—and when Taiga stopped breathing for the first time, she scooped him up in her arms and held him close with a blanket. Without thinking, Emma _ran_ to Regina’s house as fast as her legs would take her and had stood in her doorway, crying as she held the dying puppy in her arms. Regina had the forethought to call August, and as a group, each person helped Emma to bring the sickly pup back from the brink of death. They spent a total of two days trying everything to get him healthier, while Felice—who Emma had managed to bring with her in her original flight with Taiga from the house—watched on, whining and whimpering for her pup to be returned to her. It was Henry’s idea to name the puppy Taiga, when he woke up in the morning of the second day and found a small, newborn puppy sitting on his table. He had been doing a project in school about the different biomes of the world, and found Taiga a suiting name, as only the strongest and most hardy coniferous trees grew in the Taiga forests at the edges of the fierce tundra plains. With a group effort from Emma, Regina, Henry, August, and David and Mary Margaret—who Emma charged with taking care of her dogs while she stayed awake, night and day, with Taiga—the little, blue eyed puppy survived. He had grown slightly spoiled from all the attention, and knew he could pretty much get away with anything from his human mother.

 

Beside her, August chuckled as he watched the lanky pup now sulking beside the older female.

 

“I think he wants to be leader!” He exclaimed from where he stood on his sled runners. They had stopped their teams of fifteen dogs about ten miles from the mine, letting the dogs catch their breath and giving them a chance to warm up their cold fingers and toes. It was the first time they had been out with their teams with snow on the ground, and Taiga’s first time running with the team. Emma loved it more than anything; the pup-mobiles were great but she was always feeling like she was going to fall off and the team would carry on without her. On the sled she could fly. 

 

“I just think he’s bored,” Emma grumped, though she couldn’t stay exasperated at the young pup for long. August’s team had a sole leader, his favourite female Luna, while the other fourteen were arranged in pairs down the gangline. For Emma, she had Booth and Fox in dual lead. 

 

For the last five months, since Emma had begun training her dogs, she had been experimenting with lead dogs to find out who would be the best. She had her leaders narrowed down to five; Booth, Nettie, Felice, Fox and Saga. Each dog had their own strengths as lead—where Nettie memorized the trails and needed very little prompting as to which way to go, Booth could keep the team going for long periods of time; while Fox was fast, Felice inspired confidence in the rest of the team, and Saga’s nose could find the trail in the thickest of storms, be it rain or snow. 

 

August smiled but then his face turned somber. “Are you ready for this, Em?” He asked, referring to the race from Nome to Solomon that was taking place the next day. It was a thirty six mile run over the same trail that Emma and the men of the mine took two days to trek. For the dogs it would only be a couple of hours to cross that many miles. 

 

“Totally ready,” she replied, stretching her neck. The race was for five to ten dogs, and Emma had decided on racing seven while allowing Ruby—under the guise of Roger—to take the other six. Taiga was still too young to race long distances. Her oldest friend had become very interested in the dogs after helping Emma with the pup-mobile training. Emma had decided that she would be running Nettie in solo-lead, with Saga and Felice in the “sweep” position, Ocean and Star in the team position, and Thunder and Saugeen in wheel. 

 

She _was_ in fact, slightly nervous about the upcoming race. It would be her first time going back to Solomon since everyone found out about her being a woman. And she would be racing in the men’s class. She saw no difference between her dogs and August’s, and she was tired of  Leo’s snide comments, not to mention Hook’s sneers and creepy smirks. It was time to prove that women could do the same things as men. Just to prove her point, she secured Taiga in the sled basket, lifted the snow hook from the snow, and called to August over her shoulder, “I bet I’ll beat you to the mines!” Before she called up her team and took off.

 

When they arrived at the mine outside of Nome—with Emma in the lead of course—the blonde was pleased to see Henry building a snowman near where Ruby was chipping away at the thin cover of ice at the shore of the creek. It was a Saturday, so the boy was excused from needing to go to school.

 

As she got closer, Emma saw Leopold walk out from behind the snowman with his signature black jacket on. His arms were crossed over his chest and there was a mild displeased expression on his face.

 

“I don’t see why you don’t wear the garments I give you. Surely they must be warmer than those ratty furs you wear.” Emma heard him saying as she set the snow hook beside Ruby and dug through the canvas sled bag for a snack for her dogs. She tried to hide her smile as she saw the small scowl forming on Henry’s face. “Ah, Miss Swan. It’s about _time_ you showed up. Well, never mind your tardiness—” Emma’s face now matched Henry’s as she bit her tongue to try to swallow the angry fire growing in the pit of her stomach. She hated that condescending tone of Leopold’s, not to mention the ignorance towards August, who had just pulled up, only a minute behind Emma—“look at what this young man is wearing! Do try to convince him to wear otherwise; it’s clear the _man’s_ influence on him has worn off.”

 

The blonde haired woman looked Henry up and down. His hazel eyes were flashing with indignation, and his cheeks were rosy from the cold, November wind off the ocean which had brought the snows. His “ratty furs” as Leopold had called them were actually beautifully put together; he wore a parka of caribou fur that was ruffed with wolverine fur, some of the warmest furs in all of Alaska; his mitts were hare skin and sewn with the fur side in to ensure maximum warmth, and his feet were adorned with sealskin mukluks, the most durable and waterproof material north of Vancouver. 

 

“You look fine to me, Henry,” Emma murmured. As Leopold scoffed, she turned her head to fix a cool gaze on her boss. “Sir, I would like to take tomorrow off.” Ever since she had returned to work full-time, once her dogs were trained and Felice was healed and Taiga was weaned, her days off had disappeared. She worked at the mine seven days a week, with hardly any time for a break, while the men were allowed two days off and plenty of rest. She wasn’t complaining; she thought she was really earning her place at the mine, but her body was beginning to give out due to the strain and no time to unwind.

 

Leopold let loose a laugh—but not a laugh like something was funny, a laugh like something was pathetic—and he shook his head. When August stood beside Emma and said, “Me too” however, he stopped laughing and squished his face into a frown. He waved his hand through the air and turned as though he were suddenly bored of her presence. “Fine. Just _one_ day though.”

 

Emma mocked a salute to his turned back, which had August and Henry hiding scoffs. She turned back to her dogs and gave them each a piece of fish before unharnessing and letting them wander. Over the last few months, her trust in the dogs had grown substantially, and she knew they would never wander far. Most would only go to the river to see if they could catch fish, or play in the icy water, while some chose to stick around Emma. Nettie was the only dog who preferred to stay near Henry. She attached a leash to Taiga and handed it to Henry as the puppy leapt from the gangline in an effort to chase the adults headed to the creek. 

 

“Here, hold this.” 

 

Henry accepted the pup but still looked mutinous as Taiga jumped up and tried to lick his nose. “I don’t know why he thinks my clothes are so bad; Aukaneck gave them to me. He wouldn’t give me bad clothes.” Aukaneck was a local Inuit man who had grown up with Daniel. “Mom said these used to be Father’s.” Indeed the fit was near perfect, if not made for someone slightly lankier and longer in the limbs than Henry. While being a near spitting image of his father—or so she was told, she had never met Daniel—he seemed to have inherited some of Regina’s smaller features. Her wide collarbone and compact torso, for example. Emma grinned at the thought of Regina, then shook her head and forced herself back into the present. Henry seemed to be ranting while he knelt in the snow beside Taiga, who was now trying to bite on the stump of Nettie’s docked tail.

 

“And he’s always coming over to the house and eating all our food, even when no one else is eating. He only ever talks about himself and for some reason, he doesn’t realize that no one is listening.”

 

Emma was confused as to he was talking about, but it became very clear when he said, “He’s trying to make Dad disappear from the house.”

 

_Oh. Leopold._

 

“I’m sure he isn’t trying to do that, Henry.” The boy shot her a look that could only be described as a Regina glare. He was very clearly her son. Again, Emma suppressed a smile. 

 

“You’re her true love, Emma,” he whispered, his eyes secretive as he glanced over Emma’s shoulder to make sure no one was eavesdropping. For a second, Emma felt the pang of an unknown emotion, one that made her mouth dry and her heart hungry for something she didn’t know. Emma shook her head and blushed as she realized that she may be beginning to harbour affection for Regina. It was a strong affection, one she wasn’t sure she should be feeling. “Time is running out,” he continued, eyes boring into her’s so intensely that it almost made her flinch. “You have to save her.”

 

“Calm down, kid, I know you believe that I’m her true love and all, but don’t you think this is a little dramatic? I mean what could I possibly give her that she can’t give herself?”

 

Henry stared for a minute, while Nettie nudged at his arm. Just as Emma was about to look away from that impenetrable gaze, he spoke. “Freedom, Emma. You have to free her from the Moon’s influence before… _He_ solidifies it. Save her, before it’s too late.”

 

Emma shook her head, opening her mouth to tell him that Regina didn’t need saving, when he stood from the snow and dropped the pup’s leash in Emma’s hands. Before the blonde could even ask where he was going, he hurried off out of the mine without a backwards glance.

 

* * *

 

 

Later that night, as Regina was sitting at her table while Leopold Blanchard sat across from her, making vulgar attempts at conversation with his mouth stuffed full of her food, she realized that she’d spent more money on food since Leopold had starting “courting” her than she had through out the ten years of Henry’s life. She was not listening to a word he was saying, instead drawing into the far recesses of her mind to try to escape from this man, as she did every time he visited and refused to listen to her when she asked him to leave. Movement at the top of the stairs alerted Regina to Henry’s presence. Surprisingly, he had returned home earlier that afternoon sans Nettie.

 

After a couple of escapes from Emma’s house to Regina’s house, specifically Henry’s room, the blonde haired woman had decided that should Henry wish, the determined grey sled dog would be allowed to visit him. “Only if your mother agrees,” Emma had said, with a strange glowing emotion in her eyes that made Regina’s heart stir and had the brunette agreeing without hesitation. Which would never happen again; the silly dog was housebroken, but Henry’s room had become coated in dog fur as she began shedding her short summer coat in late September.

 

His eyes had been lit nearly brown with excitement that day, but now they were dark green with worry and concern as he observed his mother. Suddenly, his eyes snapped to the man Regina was trying her damnedest to avoid. Her own ears had picked up two words of interest: “Emma Swan.”

 

“I’m sorry?” She blurted out, clearly interrupting some sort of raging rant Mr. Blanchard was on. He shot her a look which clearly showed his displeasure at being interrupted and having to start his tale over. 

 

“I was _saying_ , Regina, that this hare-brained woman has enough gull to think she can enter and actually compete it tomorrow’s men’s race!” He chortled arrogantly before a scowling sneer was smeared on his face. “What a sad pathetic race it will be.”

 

 _Yes,_ Regina thought, _How sad it will be to see all those men bite the snow in their losses._

 

“You should do your best to remember not to interrupt a man while he’s speaking, darling, it is highly inappropriate.” Rage filled the brunette’s stomach at the nickname and his chastising, stern tone which was too similar to Cora’s for her liking. “Also you should do better to listen to one as he speaks; there might be important matters he wishes to discuss with his wife.”

 

“Like what, _marriage_?” She snarled, her rage coming loose at the fact that the man just implied that he would marry her. Leopold’s eyebrows shot to his hairline and his face began to turn red with either embarrassment or anger as Regina’s wildness bubbled to the surface. “Would you prefer that I just bend over backwards and start producing sons for you too, Mr. Blanchard? Because I guarantee that _nothing_ you could say to me would ever be considered important to me!”

 

Now his face was turning purple, and he began to bluster and babble, looking for something to say to cut off the angry tirade, but Regina was far from finished. 

 

“I know that all you desire from me is my mother’s wealth and my body to warm your bed and give you sons to carry on your filthy line. And I will tell you this: fuck you and your misogynistic ass! You do not help me, you do not benefit me, and you eat _all my FUCKING food!_ I am so tired of having you here when you have not been invited, and having you continuously ignore my requests for you to leave my house! Now, I will ask you kindly, _once again_ , Mr. Blanchard, to kindly leave my house. If you do not comply to my wishes for you to leave my house and to stop speaking so lowly of my passionate, hardworking and determined friend, Miss Swan, then I shall call the authorities at once and we shall see how well your business empire survives with you in jail!”

 

Now the man had the audacity to laugh in her face, a cruel, smug light in his eyes. 

 

“You foolish girl—“ Regina hid the wince at the exact phrasing Cora used to say to her when punishing her for defiant moments like these—“Don’t you realize that your ‘authorities’ won’t listen to you? You are a bloody woman! You are nothing but a dead man’s property, and property cannot speak for itself!”

 

Once more, Regina tried to reign in her rage. Her copper eyes gleamed amber, a warning sign for Leopold to stop. But he was so _damn_ oblivious.

 

“Women have the vote now,” she hissed. “Your reign over us is over. We don’t have to listen to you or any man; we bow to no one! We are free!”

 

With these words, she stood and grabbed Leopold’s arm, lifting him from his half finished meal and escorting him to the front door. She shoved him out the door, but when he refused to leave the threshold, she picked up her phone to call for Nome’s police. At the same time, Leopold roared in fury and charged at her, swinging his meaty fists. Regina neatly ducked and sidestepped, however, and the man went skittering off balance into the wall. He grunted as he hit with a thunk and swore words that almost made Regina’s ears bleed. She tried to ignore him as she dialled. Yet again, the man bellowed, only this time there were actual words in his sounds. 

 

“You filthy, half-breed whore! Your cunt isn’t even worth fucking, you slut!”

 

It wasn’t even the fact that he insulted her womanhood, and called her a whore and slut which snapped Regina—it was being called a half-breed, an insult to her father’s Spanish heritage and her bronze skin. Her self-control vanished in a half-second. She left the phone hanging from it’s hook as she charged Leopold. She saw the surprise flicker across his face an instant before she connected with him. He had not expected this reaction. She grabbed him by his grey suspenders, not even caring as she pinched folds of skin beneath his shirt, and threw him to his feet with all of her strength. Although the man towered over her and weighed twice as much as her, he did very little to stop her from kicking him out of her house—literally. She punched, kicked and screamed wordless curses , and barely registered him hitting her back, though her one ear began to ring and something warm was dripping from her nose.  At the door, she swung her arm and her fist connected squarely to his nose, sending him staggering back and falling down her porch.

 

“Go fuck yourself!” She screamed at him before slamming the door shut. Immediately, the rage drained out of her, leaving her an empty, emotionless shell. Her chest heaved and she slid to the floor, tears falling as the sobs came on, sadness replacing the anger. She cried softly so not to alert Henry as she bent over, her injured face and sore hand throbbing in rhythm to each other. 

 

It took her a few moments to realize she wasn’t alone in the entranceway anymore. Her head snapped up and another sob left her as she realized that Henry had been standing at the entrance of the dining room for some time now. His eyes were unreadable.

 

“Henry,” Regina gasped, reaching out to him with her uninjured hand. “I am so sorry.”

 

What was she apologizing for? All the blood that was soaking her clothes from her nose? For all the cursing and swearing? The yelling? The fact that she put up with Leopold and his disgusting social skills for six months?

 

He moved. Regina watched with hopeful eyes as he approached her. But instead of saying anything, he mutely squeezed her shoulder tight and then scooted past her and out into the night. 

 

A wail left Regina as the gut-wrenching feeling of abandonment filled her. She fell onto her side as the emotionless void inside her started to fill with an ice-cold rush. She sobbed softly onto the hardwood as she felt her heart turn to ice.

 

* * *

 

 

A knock on Emma’s door announced Henry’s arrival in the night. The blonde opened the door and frowned at him.

 

“You lost, kid?” Then she saw the dead seriousness in the boy’s eyes and she instantly knew something wasn’t right. She looked around but could not see hide nor hair of Regina. There was no way she would allow Henry to walk to Emma’s alone through the mid evening night. “What’s wrong? Where is your mother?”

 

“She needs you,” Henry said by way of explaining, his voice serious and completely certain. “The time has come for you to break the Moon’s grip on her.”

 

“But _how_ do you expect me to do that?” Emma cried. “You keep telling me all these fairytales in half-sentences and riddles but you never tell me what you need me to do! So what. Do. I. Do?”

 

The seriousness in his face melted into something more vulnerable; fear and worry. “Come with me, please,” he whispered, his voice cracking.

 

Emma nodded, softening at the sight of the boy’s fear. “Alright. Let me hook up the dogs and grab a coat.”

 

While Henry tried to avoid showing Emma the relief that came over him, the observant blonde still saw it in the slumping of his shoulders and the smoothening of his furrowed brow. She hardest four of her fastest dogs, Nettie, Fox, Shasta and Tempest, then threw her jacket at Henry before moving inside. 

 

“What’s this for?” Henry stammered, his teeth chattering as he knelt in the snow and held Taiga—who Emma could have sworn was inside last—tightly around his chest.

 

“It’s for you,” Emma called back, returning after scooping a warm sleep-roll from in front of the fire. “You should know better than to walk through the snow without any winter clothing on! Did you want to be an icicle?” She placed the sleep roll on top of the sled-basket and motioned for Henry to hop on. “Get in quick before all the heat is gone.”

 

With that, the boy hopped on and Emma tucked him into the furry sleep-sac before hooking up Taiga next to Tempest once more. She called up her dogs and took off into the night.

 

* * *

 

Regina wasn’t sure how much time had passed when her door opened once more and Henry reappeared. She could hear two sets of footsteps, which meant that someone else was with him, but she lacked the care to open her eyes. The floor creaked as someone sat beside her, a smaller, lankier figure which could only be Henry, and then a cold wet nose was in her face. She flinched back and opened her eyes to see the sky blue eyes of Emma’s puppy, Taiga, staring back at her. Just behind him, Henry sat, his hazel eyes rich and dark with concern.

 

The ice throbbed painfully in Regina’s chest as she glanced up and saw Emma standing behind her, dark green eyes unreadable. Without a word, she stepped over the brunette and made her way into Regina’s kitchen. Regina closed her eyes again and sighed. She couldn’t bring herself to care that Emma was in her house, nor could she care that Henry had left without her permission. She only felt empty, like she had used all her emotion and now all the was left was that ice around her heart.

 

“Jesus, Regina,” Emma’s voice whispered as footsteps approached once more. The brunette opened her eyes and saw the blonde standing with a dripping cloth in her hand. The two women had a stare off until Emma folded her legs neatly under her and sat at Regina’s head, gently picking up her upper body and place it in the blonde’s warm lap. Then she took the cloth and very gently started dabbing at Regina’s face, where Leopold had hurt her.

 

It was that single act that broke Regina’s emotionless state. The ice shattered. The thin wall of blankness crumbled and all of a sudden, her tears were back. A weird keening noise was echoing from somewhere. In some back corner of her mind, Regina realized it was her. She rolled closer to the warmth of Emma and felt her hands in Regina’s hair, gently stroking, gently easing the rest of the ice away. She was saying something but Regina’s ears were deaf. If she was listening, or could see the blonde haired woman, she would know that she was whispering, “I’ve got you, Regina. You are safe” over and over again while tears slowly dripped down her cheeks.

 

Henry stared at them, both women completely oblivious to his and Taiga’s presence. It was this show of affection which solidified his belief that these women were made for each other.

 

* * *

 

Emma wasn’t sure what time it was when she remembered what tomorrow would bring. It was after midnight, this much she knew, because the grandfather clock in Regina’s hallway had chimed twelve times. She gently lifted the brunette’s head—she had fallen asleep but Emma wasn’t sure when—and managed to wriggle out from underneath her without waking her. She rummaged around the kitchen for something to leave a note with, and when she found a pen and paper, she scrawled a quick note explaining that she had gone home to care for her dogs before the race. She placed a quick kiss on Regina’s forehead. 

 

As she was sneaking out, Henry’s tired voice made her jump.

 

“I saw that,” he whispered from where he had been “sleeping” propped against a wall near his mother. His hazel eyes glittered in the dark as he stared at Emma. “You love her don’t you?”

 

Emma stared right back at the boy, her eyes blank as she shrugged. Then she pointed to Taiga, where the exhausted puppy was twitching in his sleep, half on Henry’s lap—although he was far too big for it—and half on the floor. “Can you watch him for me? For tonight and tomorrow? I need to go home and take care of the dogs and get some sleep before the race.”

 

Henry scrunched up his nose at the fact that Emma didn’t answer his question, but only pulled Taiga closer and got more comfortable next to his emotionally exhausted mother, who hadn’t stirred.

 

Emma left the house and drove the dogs home in a quiet, thoughtful manner. The dogs didn’t need any direction; they’d memorized the route from Regina and Henry’s to Emma’s house almost as fast as the blonde had. The woman spent the trip running over Henry’s question in her mind. 

 

_Do you love her?_

 

She wasn’t sure. Regina wasn’t just her friend anymore. In the six months since they’d et, she had become… _more._ She was the one person Emma trusted with more than anything. The furtherEmma got from Regina, however, the more she wanted to turn around and go back to make sure she was alright. It was that question that stopped her.

 

_Do you love her?_

 

Yes. She knew that was the truth, deep down in her heart. And still she ran.

 

* * *

 

 

At around six the next morning, two horses driven by race volunteers came to Emma’s house to lead Emma and Ruby—both ready to go—to the race starting line. Nettie looked proud of herself in her solo-lead position, while on Ruby’s team, Frisk and Fox howled and chattered excitedly and led the whole group of dogs into an excited song.

 

The two horses were attached to the lead dogs and they led the teams at a slow pace to the main street in Nome, where the start and finish lines were. Once they were in the chute to the start line, the horses were replaced with more volunteers on foot, who held the dogs in place while the other teams were leaving. There were two minute intervals between each team’s departure, and Emma had until seven o’clock sharp to leave; there were fifteen teams ahead of her. 

 

Crowds lining either side of the street cheered and waved to her. Emma, heart pounding and adrenaline rushing, waved back while her green eyes scanned for the only two people who mattered; Regina and Henry. Perhaps they weren't awake yet; it _had_ been an emotionally exhausting night for all parties involved. Still, she craned her neck and peered around strangers and tourists and semi-familiar faces.

 

From four teams ahead of her, almost as though he had known Emma was looking, August turned with a big smile and pointed. The blonde's heart leapt into her throat as she saw the familiar lanky red-brown form of Taiga, connected to Henry by a leash. And beside Henry was his mother, _Regina_ , as a shadowy figure dressed all in black. Both boy and woman seemed to be looking for something. 

 

Emma’s face split into what could only be described as a shit-eating grin as she flagged over a volunteer and asked him to stand on the brake while she went to do something. She then trotted up the side of the chute to the pair who stood near the starting line. She ruffled Henry’s hair and laughed as Taiga tried to leap up to get Emma's attention. Then her eyes met the copper orbs of Regina’s and everything inside of her just turned to warmth.

 

“Hi,” she said, glancing down at Henry then back at Regina. The woman seemed much better than the night before, though her eyes were dark and puffy, darting around every so often, and her posture was stiff and slightly tense. 

 

“Hello, dear,” Regina replied after a pause. Her eyes locked onto Emma’s and immediately, her body softened. She reached out before Emma could say or do anything else and straightened the blonde’s fur jacket, doing up a button Emma had missed and smoothening the creases. Her hands paused on her shoulders and her copper gaze searched the other woman's jade one. “Are you ready?”

 

“I think so?” Emma nearly gasped, the hands on her shoulders almost sending her heart into an erratic frenzy. The ghost of a smile flickered over the brunette’s face and had Emma shyly looking away. Her wandering gaze fell onto a curly haired photographer standing near her team, idle and looking a bit lost with his camera in his hands.

 

“Oh! Come with me!” Without thinking, Emma took Regina’s hand and dragged the two to her team. The man, Sidney Glass as he introduced himself, instructed Emma and Regina to stand on the runners while Henry sat in the basket. Taiga sat beside the sled and looked straight at the camera without being prompted in anyway. Sidney took the snapshot, a beautiful photo encompassing all of Emma’s happiness into one frame and freezing it in time.

 

After the photo was taken, Emma was surprised to see August’s excited team leaving the chute to start the race. Immediately, nerves prickled her stomach and adrenaline squashed them down, leaving her fingertips feeling like lightning was shooting through them.

 

“Emma, breathe,” Regina reminded her. The other woman still stood on the runners with her, one hand on top of the blonde’s, thumb circling the back of her hand soothingly. “You’ll do great. Just breathe. You’ve got this.”

 

“Funny,” Emma said with a half grin. “Aren’t I supposed to be the one comforting _you_?”

 

“I’m not the one about to beat the pants off all these men.”

 

The dog-sled driver’s eyes widened at the firm certainty in Regina’s voice. The next team being announced had Regina backing away from the sled and Henry squirming off Emma’s sled bag, taking Taiga with him.

 

The blonde looked behind her at Ruby, where the girl disguised as a boy was rocking back and fourth on her runners. When she noticed Emma’s glance, she lifted her hand—covered in a thick and warm hare skin mitt—and gave her a thumbs up. She nodded and before she knew it, her team was being led to the start line and a time keeper was counting down from thirty. At zero she would be going. At the last five seconds, her thoughts drifted.

 

“Five.”

 

She loved Regina.

 

“Four.”

 

She considered the brunette and her son her family.

 

“Three.”

 

That was impossible.

 

“Two.”

 

Like this race.

 

“One.”

 

Nothing was impossible.

 

“Go!”

 

Emma would win.

 

“Hike!” She called to her dogs, watching the seven swell and leap and dance across the start line and out onto the trail.

 

She could do this. She could win this race.

 

And she could win Regina’s heart.

 

* * *

 

By the halfway point, Emma was in third, behind August in first and Killian in second. She didn’t mind her standing, even though she was a good fifteen minutes behind August; his team tended to pick up speed fast but tire early, where as Emma’s team gained speed slowly and tired more slowly as well. All three of the top teams, along with Ruby in fourth and the fifth place team, were at the halfway point, the Solomon Roadhouse, where they were taking part in the mandatory midway hour long layover. Emma was restlessly checking over her dogs with fifteen minutes left in the layover when Hook came swaggering over.

 

“Hey, Swan,” he drawled, leaning heavily on Emma’s sled and making the woman cringe. “Want to know a secret?”

 

“Not particularly,” Emma grunted, not even wanting to know what Hook was going to say.

 

“Fine. Then I’ll keep my knowledge of a shortcut to myself. Who knows, maybe I’ll even win. These Siberian rats are hard to beat.”

 

Emma ignored the obvious jab at her dogs. “Shortcut? What shortcut?”

 

A devious grin flashed over his face. “It’s called Rock Pass. It takes you from Cape Nome to Lillian Creek and from there it’s just a hop, skip and a jump back to Nome. You could be in first before you know it.”

 

The blonde narrowed her eyes. “And why are _you_ telling me this?”

 

The man blinked at her in silence for a moment, then simply said, “Because you are a woman racing amongst men.” Then he walked away.

 

* * *

 

 

Rock Pass, it would turn out, _did_ exist. And it was longer than she’d anticipated. She had caught back up to Killian within an hour of leaving Solomon and had put the shortcut out of her mind until she came across Cape Nome and saw a small sign for Rock Pass on the outskirts. Perhaps the man with a hook for a hand meant well when he told her of it. She frowned to herself and slowed her team to a stop. Nettie turned to look at Emma, panting heavily and with her tongue lolling out of her mouth. Her brown eyes seemed to say, _What are you doing?_

 

Emma knew that in order to be taken seriously from the majority of the male population that she needed to do well in this race. She wondered if she should give the leering, lecherous Hook the benefit of the doubt. She had discovered recently that she hated it when no one trusted _her_ even though she was telling the truth, and she decided then and there.

 

“Gee!” She called to her dogs, taking them off the main trail to the smaller Rock Pass. And now it was getting dark.

 

* * *

 

 

Regina wasn’t sure what to think anymore. She was so confident that Emma would win, or art least finish with a high standing, that she didn’t even pause to worry about if something should go wrong on the trail. But now it was nearing eleven that evening, and all the teams except Emma had been back for hours. Everyone still waited by the finish line; the race marshal, Archie, had said that these were the biggest crowds he’d ever seen for a dogsled race. This surprised Regina. She had lived in Nome for almost twelve years now, and she knew that this race was the main event of the year. It’s all anyone talked about in the winter, and even though Regina was never interested in it, she always heard about the races and saw the crowds gather and dissipate off the streets whenever their favourite musher was in. If they were this large, and stayed for this late, it had to be because of Emma. The thought made Regina’s heart swell with awe and pride, and she tried not to let the worry overtake her.

 

She could only hope that the blonde haired driver was alright.

 

* * *

 

 

The darkness was disorienting for Emma. Shadows leapt out from the snow and seemed to lunge at her around every turn. Rock Pass was a winding, forking path that doubled back on itself and led further into the interior of the Seward Peninsula. She wasn’t sure how far she travelled down it before Nettie charged a bush at the side of the trail and came out with a snowshoe hare caught in a snare. Emma started cursing as she realized that Rock Pass was someone’s trapline. She was going the wrong way; Hook had deceived her. As the darkness crowded around her, and an icy wind ripped off the Arctic Ocean, Emma was astonished as a sob ripped from her chest. Almost immediately, the attention was taken off of the hare and the dogs came to a complete halt. Emma didn’t blame them; she had never run then after dark, and she knew her emotional state was effecting them. 

 

As proof of this point, Nettie, the most highly attuned dog to emotion, turned the team around and brought them along side the sled so she could sit beside Emma and whine to her.

 

“I’m alright,” Emma whispered, rubbing fiercely at her face for the tears that stung her eyes as they fell. “I’m okay.” In reality, she wasn’t so sure. The trail had plenty of sharp turned and going around them in the dark had bounced her body off of trees and tipped her sled more times than she could count. She could feel the cuts, the bruises forming just below her skin. Each turn had her terrified that she would come face to face with a wolf in this wild tangle of wilderness—she had heard them howling close by a couple of times—or even worse, a bear not yet hibernating, or a starving moose fresh off from mating season. Her heart was also smarting with betrayal. She hadn’t thought Hook would’ve willingly done something like this, and it hurt that someone could dislike her this much because of her gender. 

 

Nettie nosed her elbow, reminding her of where she was and what she was doing. Determination decided to push despair out of the way. This was a potentially dangerous situation, but she reminded herself that Saga was on her team, and that his nose could guide them back to the main trail. They would be alright. And Emma _would_ cross that finish line, even if there was no one left to see it.

 

She pulled in a deep breath, wiped her face one last time, and unhooked Nettie from the team. She was an amazing lead dog, but her empathy for Emma would not permit her to leave the driver’s side. So Emma loosed Nettie—who didn’t even move—then took Saga and hooked him into the lead position.

 

“Alright, Saga,” she told the jet-black dog, who watched her with sparkling amber eyes. “Now it’s your time to shine. Bring us home.”

 

* * *

 

 

At one in the morning, they arranged search parties for Emma. Dread settled over Regina like a cold blanket. Ruby had taken Henry and Taiga back to the house shortly after midnight with the promise to fetch him should they find Emma while he was sleeping. August, as usual, was the first to spring into action to find his friend. Surprisingly, Killian Jones also hooked his dogs back up and volunteered to go out. Regina saw a strange sort of fear in his eyes that had her wondering what really happened on the trail.

 

The crowds were still there. Reporters for the Nome Mirror newspaper waited restlessly for the woman musher to return, while many miners and their families were reluctant to leave a friend behind.

 

Regina wished they found her quickly.

 

* * *

 

 

Emma almost wept with relief when she saw the race trail on the outskirts of Cape Nome. Saga hesitated at the noise, but Emma shook her head.

 

“No, Saga, straight ahead! Go home, boy!’

 

Her hallucinations started halfway form Cape Nome to Nome. Every shadow took on the form of something that would harm her or the dogs; one moment a crooked tree would be a bear, the next, a scant bush would turn into Leopold, or worse, one of Emma’s childhood predators. People from the orphanage and the abusive men and women who tried to adopt her. She was wrought with fear and high strung with adrenaline from trying to distinguish fear from reality when she had a positive hallucination. August racing towards her on a team of ten dogs. It must’ve been a strong one, too, because all of Emma’s dogs began to react; their ears and tails came up and they began to speed up. Emma wondered, in the back corner of her tired mind, if there was really some sort of prey animal that they were following.

 

But then Nettie took off from the side of the sled and began to mingle with August’s dogs.

 

 _Okay, not a dream,_ she thought. Her exhausted brain was not creative enough for the amount of detail she was seeing. 

 

“Are you real?” She called out, pressing on her brake when Saga nearly touched noses with Luna, his sister and August’s lead dog.

 

“Emma! Thank god you’re alive! What hurts the most?”

 

“Nothing really,” Emma mumbled. Her lips felt thick and it was a lot of effort to talk. Did she look okay? “I feel fine. Well, not fine, but fine enough to finish this race.”

 

“I think you’re in shock,” August—he must’ve been real—said, frowning as he set his snow hook and walked over to examine her. “I’ve seen this with a lot of privates when they first seen battle. How many fingers am I holding up?” He held up his hand, which Emma squinted at. Since when did her vision get so blurry?

 

“Three… No, two… No… Six? C’mon, Sarge! I’m tired enough as is you making finger duplicates isn’t helping!”

 

“How tired are you, exactly?”

 

“Bear,” Emma grunted. She wasn’t even sure if that made sense, but it did in the foggy recesses of her mind. She got off her sled and fumbled with Saga’s tail-line. His confidence was beginning to waver, and Nettie had had enough of a break.

 

“What?” Why did August sound so alarmed?

 

“You asked how tired I was and I said ‘bear’. Doesn’t that answer your… Dammit.”

 

“ _What?_ ”

 

“Stop yelling, I forgot the alphabet. Whatever. How close is the thingy?”

 

“The thingy?” His blue eyes seemed slightly alarmed and slightly amused. “You mean the finish line? It’s not far. Follow me.” Something snapped Emma into reality. The daze that was covering her mind suddenly lifted and brought her back to reality. If only for a moment.

 

“No.”

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

“No, August, I can’t follow you home. If I cross the line after you, they’ll never take me seriously.”

 

The sergeant examined Emma once more before nodding his head once. “Alright. I’ll be right behind you though. I’m not risking you getting lost or hurt again.”

 

“Again? Am I hurt?”

 

“Only a little. Nothing that you won’t heal from. Now, lead on, soldier.”

 

“Banana!” Emma yelled, the only thing that seemed to make sense to her as the fog of sleep-deprivation descended on her once more.

 

“Oh dear.”

 

* * *

 

 

They entered town shortly after two in the morning. Regina nearly collapsed from relief when she saw Emma lead the way in first, straight-backed and proud of herself. August was a team-length behind her, keeping an ever watchful eye on the woman. A cheer rose up from the large gathering of people at the line and seemed to confuse the dirty, bloody and slightly beat up woman. Everyone rushed towards her at once, wanting to hear her story and help her anyway they could. But Regina saw Emma curling in on herself as the photographer Sidney Glass rose his camera for a picture. Immediately, Regina pushed her way through the crowd and wrapped her armed around Emma protectively. The camera flashed and Regina knew that that moment had just been frozen in time. Emma let out a small whimper and Regina sprang into action. 

 

“Everyone, back off!” She snarled, flinging her arms out and keeping Emma behind her as she turned to glare at everyone around her. “Can’t you see she’s had a rough day? Give her some room!”

 

“Do I really look that bad?” Emma mumbled as everyone began to give the women and the team some space. Regina looked back over her shoulder to fully look at Emma for the first time. A nasty bump was forming on her temple, and her one eye was nearly swollen shut. Her body was covered in cuts and scratches and debris from the trail, but mostly she just looked exhausted.

 

“No, Emma, you’re beautiful,” Regina heard herself whisper.

 

The blonde’s green eyes snapped up to Regina’s and a strange expression took over her features. Before either woman could address the sudden charge of energy in the air, Henry came bounding out of the crowd and threw himself at Emma, latching himself onto the blonde’s waist.

 

“Jesus… _Tree bark!”_ Emma yelped, jumping with her hands splayed for balance before she awkwardly patted Henry on his head. “Hello, small human!”

 

Henry gave Emma the oddest of looks before glancing questioningly at his mother.

 

“She’s very tired, Henry,” Regina explained, trying not to laugh. “Best not to ask.”

 

Once the medic cleared Emma for her minor injuries and strongly advised her to go to sleep, Henry leapt into the sled basket and Regina hopped onto the runners, an arm wrapped protectively around Emma to keep her from falling off the sled as her head drooped, and the three of them made their way back to Emma’s house. It was slow going as the dogs were exhausted, but they finally made it. Emma seemed to be acting on an extreme version of autopilot, completely unaware of her surroundings or her company and mumbling things that made no sense, so Henry volunteered to take care of the dogs while Regina opted to put Emma to bed.

 

As the brunette was tucking Emma into bed, after having undressed the woman and combing her hair and tending to her injuries, Emma suddenly grasped Regina’s wrist. When Regina looked at the blonde’s face, those green eyes were clear and deep and filled with that strange emotion from earlier.

 

“Emma—?” Before Regina could even finish the question, Emma’s lips were on hers, soft and sweet and everything Regina dreamed they would be—and more. It was a chaste kiss, one Regina longed to deepen more than anything in the world, but her mother’s old lessons still pulled at her and caused her to pull back.

 

“Emma,” she sighed. “I…”

 

“Regina, I love you.”

 

Regina closed her eyes. Emma’s words were so clear… Her eyes so focused… But could she really mean that?”

 

“Please say something,” Emma whispered, her fingers sliding against Regina’s and locking together.

 

“I… Please don’t ruin this,” Regina whispered, hating the way her voice broke on “please”.

 

“I won’t I promise. I can take care of you and Henry. I can work hard and we can be happy, Regina, you and me and Henry. I really _do_ love you and I think… I think Henry’s stories are right. I think you’re my true love.”

 

Now the brunette shrank away from the words, her heart filling the pleasant feeling with anger. _Love is weakness,_ Cora’s voice whispered to her. “There’s no such thing as true love,” she snapped. “You should do better than to listen to Henry and his stories. There is no truth in those words.”

 

“But what if he’s right?” The tired girl argued.  “What if we can be happy together?”

 

“Miss Swan that is quite enough. Love between two women they way you’re suggesting cannot exist.”

 

“Think about it Regina. Ask yourself. Do you love me?”

 

The brunette’s back stiffened and her eyes sharpened as tears pricked at them. Then, before she could cry, she turned and left the house.

 

She wasn’t sure if she would be coming back. Because despite the lesson ingrained in her soul, she loved the woman. And she didn’t think she could be with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Likes, comments and bookmarks are appreciated!!! 
> 
> "Hike" is a dog command for go
> 
> "Gee" is a dog command for go right

**Author's Note:**

> So, I don't have a beta for this story. If you would like to beta read it, let me know! I am on tumblr, @the-voice-in-the-dark, and I love to talk to people so hit me up! Like, comment and bookmark this story! I will be updating every Saturday--this may change when I find out my days off--and i am already a few chapters ahead of the story you will be reading! See ya!


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